Controlling Traffic Lights
Status: Mixed: first is false; second is possibly true.
Here's a couple of YouTube videos on the subject of controlling traffic lights. The first video is for pedestrians. It claims that by clicking the walk button in a special way you can cause the traffic light to change in your favor. This secret code is: 3 short clicks, 2 long, 1 short, 2 long, and 3 short. Sounds like total baloney to me. Of course, if you live in New York City, many of the walk buttons have no effect whatsoever on the signal because they were disconnected decades ago. This second video claims that it's possible to cause red lights to turn green by using a universal remote control. I'm more inclined to believe this is possible, since I know that emergency vehicles do have devices to change the lights to green. However, you would first have to locate the correct frequency, which would mean standing there with the remote on scan mode until it hits on the right one. Also, you'd need to know the correct code. (The video claims the code is 911.) Finally, would a typical remote control have a strong enough signal? Oh, and it would also be completely illegal.
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
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Everybody says this is crap, ut has anybody actually tried it??
Also, everybody says this is totally illegal. What law says you can't carry a universal remote?
Posted by Charlie in Pennsylvania on Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 04:59 AM
Also, everybody says this is totally illegal. What law says you can't carry a universal remote?
I say go for it, this guy only got a $50 fine.
Of course a fine would indicate it was illegal activity, but what do I know?
Posted by Charybdis in Hell on Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 08:12 AM
Of course a fine would indicate it was illegal activity, but what do I know?
Charlie, it isn't the remote that's against the law, it's pretending to be an emergency vehicle. By the way, do you know the difference between illegal and unlawful?
Posted by Christopher Cole in Tucson, AZ on Tue Jun 26, 2007 at 08:59 AM
yeah, i heard that flashing your brights at a stop light will fool the senor. but i doubt that works. why cant people just be patient??
Posted by nick in california on Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 11:33 AM
Emergency vehicles use a device called an Opticom. It looks like a strobe light and that is what communicates with the little thing on top of the stoplight, not infared which is what remote controls use. I ove how people can make these fake videos and slowly they spread around the net even though no one can get them to work!
~G-Love
Posted by G-Love in California on Sun Nov 04, 2007 at 08:18 PM
~G-Love
In my area, the emergency vehicle pre-emption units work from a strobe light on the emergency vehicle and the Opti-com unit on the signal mast arm is aimed to pick up this strobe (flashing at a certain frequency) at 1500 ft away. In Moorhead MN, across the river, they work sonically from the sirens. There are some infrared preemption units but it's doubtful a remote would be able to trip the signals especially with a 9-1-1 code programmed into it. Regarding the morse code for the pedestrian, it only send a call into the signal controller which will put up the WALK signal during the next non-conflicting phase. So putting some morse code into it won't work. Interestingly however, SEIMENS is big supplier of traffic controller equipment but it still has nothing to do with the pedestrian push button.
Posted by Lyle in Fargo North Dakota on Tue Nov 13, 2007 at 06:22 AM
it is actually possible. radio waves are used to change traffic lights, infared is also used, but less likely, and strobe detectors. and or a combination of the three. universal remotes do use radio frequenceis and infared signals, so if you had the right frequency, it is entirely very VERY posible to do this. but since this video was posted, the frequency may have, and probly was changed.
dont beleive me? look up traffic lights and universal remotes on wikipedia.
the question is not will it work, it is rather what is the frequency...
Posted by Ryan in Greenville SC on Fri Nov 16, 2007 at 12:57 PM
dont beleive me? look up traffic lights and universal remotes on wikipedia.
the question is not will it work, it is rather what is the frequency...
As you would expect the facts are far more complex that the discussion here about remotes & flashing lights. Check out:
http://www.gtt.com
for info on the two opticom systems.
The first uses infra-red and visible spectrum signals at various low frequencies indicating level of emergency, compressed on that frequency is ID information to validate the signal, such as a unique vehicle code, no they're not so stupid after all!!
The second system is newer and involves using GPS & secure radio communication to signal similar information to the controller. The main advantage here is that it doesn't need line of sight and it can handle multiple vehicle prioritization. In other words 3 fire trucks turning up at the same intersection.
Posted by Chris in Toronto on Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 03:03 PM
http://www.gtt.com
for info on the two opticom systems.
The first uses infra-red and visible spectrum signals at various low frequencies indicating level of emergency, compressed on that frequency is ID information to validate the signal, such as a unique vehicle code, no they're not so stupid after all!!
The second system is newer and involves using GPS & secure radio communication to signal similar information to the controller. The main advantage here is that it doesn't need line of sight and it can handle multiple vehicle prioritization. In other words 3 fire trucks turning up at the same intersection.
why dont one of you try it. i mean why argue that much. just try it
Posted by moneybags on Wed Aug 20, 2008 at 06:30 AM
Both of these are myths. Pushing a walk pushbutton only sends a "call" to the signal controller. It only takes one push to lock in the call any additional actuations do nothing.
As for using a universal remote, optical devices do exist that can prempt signals they are high intensity and are intigrated into the strobe systems of emergency vehicles. They flash at a coded rate with a different prefix code for each jurisdiction with additional coding down to individual trucks. If the code does not match exctly then the divice would have no effect. Additionally, the signal would have to be equipped with the opto reciever and most simply are not. Your odds of gettng any code to prempt even one intersection are next to 0. From a 26 year traffic tech.
Posted by MArk B on Wed Mar 04, 2009 at 05:14 PM
As for using a universal remote, optical devices do exist that can prempt signals they are high intensity and are intigrated into the strobe systems of emergency vehicles. They flash at a coded rate with a different prefix code for each jurisdiction with additional coding down to individual trucks. If the code does not match exctly then the divice would have no effect. Additionally, the signal would have to be equipped with the opto reciever and most simply are not. Your odds of gettng any code to prempt even one intersection are next to 0. From a 26 year traffic tech.
In my entire lifetime, I have only come across one traffic light where the pedestrian button actually does something. Not sure if it's still functional but it was in London, UK. It was for a pedestrian crossing to Hyde Park. When you click it, the lights for the cars turn red within a few seconds and peds get to walk. The feeling of total control was amazingly satisfying =P
Posted by Sage on Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 03:30 PM
The pedestrian button generally adds time to the light so that the pedestrian can safely cross (without having to run) before the light changes. Here, the ped buttons have no effect on causing the light to turn green sooner. This is useful when a busy road intersects a smaller road. With the smaller road, the light stays green for about 5-10 seconds, just enough time for one or two cars to pass. Where if you press the ped button it adds an additional 10-15 seconds depending on the width of the intersection to be crossed. Also, the sensors here are triggered by an audible siren above a certain db, not by infrared or any other form of light. I've heard of people using train horns to trigger the emergency signal, but that attracts a lot of unwanted attention and it is illegal. Besides, it turns all 4 ways red, not green. It's fun to think about ways to foil the system, but these two videos are fake.
Posted by 16vjohn in Utah on Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 12:52 PM
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