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Traffic signal prankster

David Pescovitz at 5:49 pm Tue, Jun 21, 2005

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A prankster in Sunnyvale, California has been toying with traffic lights across the city for three months. Police say he or she has turned them to face the wrong way, altered the timing, and made them flash red in all directions. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
"There is evidence that whoever is doing it knows what they're doing," (city spokesman John) Pilger said. "The evidence suggests they're an electrician or have that background. This isn't a high school prank."

Further puzzling investigators is the fact the traffic trickster used a cherry-picker truck to reach an overhead signal spanning a busy intersection -- apparently without anyone being any the wiser, Pilger said. What's more, the practical joker has effortlessly opened the control boxes that contain the signals' electronic guts.
Link (Thanks, Dr. Maz!)

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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