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The Museum of Hoaxes is dedicated to promoting knowledge about hoaxes. (Click here for opening hours, etc.) On our blog we post about dubious- sounding claims, and whatever else strikes our fancy. The site is also home to the Hoaxipedia (the museum's online encyclopedia of hoaxes), the Hoax Forum, and the Top 100 April Fools' Day Hoaxes.

The museum was created in 1997 by Alex Boese. He's assisted by a staff of deputy curators and docents. Alex is the author of three books, most recently Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments (which has nothing to do with hoaxes). Check out the list of the Top 20 Most Bizarre Experiments of All Time for a preview.

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The click thing in morse code spells SMEMS. As a hoax it would have been a lot funnier if it spelled something.

Ok, so there may be some way to remotely change a traffic light ... but how likely is it that the designers of the system would use a device most people have at home ... and risk the traffic signals going crazy every time somebody watching TV nearby hits the remote?

As a birthday card I once received says, "I've learned that a Universal Remote Control does not, in fact, allow you to control the universe" (on the inside it says, "I was going to buy you a present, but believe me, you'd only be disappointed").

I'm much more inclined to believe a couple of computer nerds in rollerblades with a laptop can over ride traffic lights than using a universal remote control...

Of course, Hackers was a quality film so I believed everything they did

Yes, some emergency vehicles have devices in them that allow the operators to make traffic lights turn green. If I remember correctly, some time back, someone was selling (on eBay perhaps?) the same kind of device.

They're VERY illegal for the general public to own and operate.

I knew the timing of traffic lights in my surrounding in Holland and it was always a little joke to pull up to a traffic light (I drive a Rover 827si, which is a big car), point the remote of the alarm towards the trafficlight and press the button. Et voila, the light switched.
The astonished looks on peoples faces still makes me laugh.
Our little bad joke on pedestrians.

Razella, in Morse it can mean S/M/E/M/S indeed, but alternatively (depending on where you put the limits between the points and dashes) also:
3/E/7
S/M/W/S
S/G/M/S

For a moment I entertained a possible l33t-meaning of "3E7", but the resulting "eet" makes no sense too.

I seem to recall a new story where someone was busted for having one of these devices. It was awhile ago and I don't remember if it happened locally or if I read it somewhere.

I do know these devices exist, but I doubt a universal remote would do the job unless you hacked it pretty good.

I'm inclined to say both of these are total crapola. First off, there isn't any point whatsoever in programming a device intended to assist people in crossing the street with a special secret code to actually allow it to work. Second, when Push-To-Cross signals have actually been tested, they simply inserted a "request" within the cycle, much like an under-the-street traffic approach sensor does - only useful if there's so little traffic you don't need the walk signal in the first place. See http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_153.html

I still get my giggles watching college students hammer away at the buttons as if a dozen presses is going to work any better than one. Well, okay, those students that pay any attention whatsoever to crossing signals in the first place...

As for the emergency vehicle thing, it's highly doubtful that anything like infra-red signals would be used, and certainly not in the sequence of standard remotes, nor would a standard remote be powerful enough. They're intended to be activated from over a block away, and simply forcing a sudden green light (as supposedly demonstrated in the video) would be far more dangerous than just leaving the light alone in the first place.

And finally, I became aware of such a thing when I saw it in action at an intersection I'd used for years - in this case, it turned the lights in all directions red, halting all traffic through the intersection. Far more useful, especially if your emergency vehicle happens to be turning. Red lights in all directions means you can safely use the oncoming lane to go around the traffic halted at the lights, as needed. Having any light green means you're still requiring some drivers to both hear and heed the sirens.

LaMa, in the US it wouldn't make "3E7", as Americans use a different form of Morse code.

"Red lights in all directions means you can safely use the oncoming lane to go around the traffic halted at the lights, as needed."

The ones here leave the light from the direction that the emergency vehicle is coming green. This is useful, because a lot of the roads here are divided, and the vehicle can't simply pull over into the oncoming traffic lane. Plus, there are often other roads leading into the area near the intersection that aren't controlled by the lights; if an ambulance simply pulled into the oncoming traffic lane, it would often be face to face with moving oncoming traffic. Which can be messy.

This reminds me of The Italian Job, where one of the guys hacked into the traffic control computers to operate the traffic lights.

Rhea said:

"This reminds me of The Italian Job, where one of the guys hacked into the traffic control computers to operate the traffic lights."

I think the writers of that movie stole that plot point from an old Superman TV show episode.

Years ago I was interviewed for a job with the section of the city that maintains the traffic signals and was told by the interviewer that once you press the signal button the system locks up and will not accept any further signals for that direction (i.e. north/south or east/west). I see no reason to doubt what I was otld in this. I have noticed that in Tucson if I press the button set up for bicyclists it changes the light faster than if I press the one for pedistrians. I have been told that the emergency vehicles change the light not with any signal but with their siren. The sensor detects the specific pattern of the siren and then acts.

Using the siren might not work too well around here; there are so many different sirens used by different individual fire companies and rescue crews. In fact, the ambulances here have an incredible range of siren sounds on each individual vehicle.

The lights that do have the automatic changing system have little photoreceptor things on them, so they must be receiving some sort of electromagnetic signal from the emergency vehicles.

Chris Cole: In Tucson I've noticed that the pedestrian lights change whether or not you press the button. It only seems to change it faster at night when there is not any other traffic.

Razela, it totally depends upon which intersection you're at. Some indeed have the crosswalk lights active every traffic cycle, but most don't.

Accipiter, I presume several siren sounds could be stored in a computer database which would still work. However, I was thinking about this after my post and realized that sound could bounce around too much in a city and get corrupted from other incidental noises. So, yeah, it's probably a light signal.

Emergency vehicles, here in Oklahoma at least, change the traffic lights with a strobe positioned on the top of the vehicle that flashes at a certain frequency. When detected, the lights will favor the oncoming emergency vehicle. Some morons here believe that flashing their brights a couple of times will force this change. It won't.

No, but the time they spend flashing their brights keeps them occupied until the lights can change, confirming their suspicion that it works and that they have finally hit on the right pattern.

The "changing trafic lights"-part works finer here in Sweden at least. Not on all lights, but on all the big intersections. You can flash your headligts really fast on-of a cpuple of times, and it will turn green.

Reason: Emeregcy vehicles need free access on all the main streets in order to respond quickly. Ligh sensors (similar to the ones turning on streetlights when it gets dark) instantly reacts to the emergency vehicles highspeed blue/white flashing lights and initializes the "changing to red" for all other directions.

Not all intersections have this function though... In my town i guess its just along the regular respons routes. Over all something like 1 in 5 intersections

I cant speak for everyone, but as a Firefighter and EMT I have seen the devices that change the lights for emergency vehicles. Our county jsut started installign them last year, and they arent everywhere yet though. As I said, I cant say its the same for everyone out there, but the ones we use rely on a special light we add onto our aparatus which blinks, I'm assuming at a particular rate. Ontop of the lights, there are cameras which pick this strobing effect up and changes the lights. The light the aparatus is approaching turns green while all other turn red, so that it helps clear the traffic sitting at the red light your approaching.

We do have several gated areas we run in as well, gates to businesses that require a passcode before the gate unlocks and rolls open. We roll up to those, and sound the siren and its supposed to open to that, although i have never actually had the need to run to any of those yet.

i cant believe i wasted 10 minutes reading this, to find out that it is not possible,i think i got owned by that video, so good job video guy.