Ever sat for endless minutes at an intersection, tapping your finger through the red light just to do the pointless rush to the next red light? Of course you have.
Then, just as you get a green, along comes an ambulance? All the time.
And have you cursed the oncoming ambulance—no offense, injured guy within!—because it can, with the push of a button, change the lights in order to reach the hospital or emergency more quickly, leaving you stranded behind a light suddenly red again? Don't lie.
OK, you shouldn't curse. And you should get out of the way. And maybe, if you can't beat 'em, you're one of those join-'em types?
Well, now you can! Now you can turn that Escort into a vehicle with the awesome powers of the ambulance! Not that you should. But you can.
Due to a drastic decrease in technology costs, mobile infrared transmitters, or MIRTs, are being sold on Ebay and through various companies, such as Skyoptics, for around $380. Though MIRT technology has been around for three decades, it hasn't been widely affordable until recently. And that means most municipal governments haven't had time to create laws against them.
Let Chaos reign! The length of Charleston in 10 minutes! You are now the master of the Sahara-Decatur intersection!
Not so fast!
Due to the potential threat of gnarled traffic, miles-long traffic jams and drag-races from Hualapai to the Strip with nothing but green lights, local governments are getting ready to draft new laws to make the things illegal. (Similar measures are under way in Michigan and Minnesota.) Additionally, several municipalities, including Clark County and North Las Vegas are talking about encrypting the current infrared receivers that are mounted on stoplights to make them impervious to devices that aren't used by emergency vehicles.
Metro Traffic Sgt. Frank Weigand said the reprogramming of existing emitters and receivers is projected to cost about $2 million. Weigand added that to date, law enforcement has seen very little use of the devices. They know because every time a stoplight's color is changed, it's recorded in Traffic Control's computer. "We have not experienced any recent surge in the changing of the lights," he said.
Still, if you want to try your luck, SkyOptics offers a MIRT online for $385. "Turn RED lights to GREEN with the NEW MIRT Traffic Pre-emptive Device!!" reads its home-page advertisement. It adds this admonishment next to an asterik: "Only available to Law Enforcement, Emergency Personnel, Security Forces, etc."
Oh, yeah. Right, right. (Wink, wink.) LAW ENFORCEMENT only. Sure, yeah. We got it. No prob.