Traffic signal control system installed on Texas police cars
Forty-five police cars in Grand Prairie, Texas, are being equipped with devices that turn red lights green. The devices will help police respond to emergencies faster and safer.
The 3M-Opticom traffic system includes small boxes mounted between the police vehicles’ flashing emergency lights and small canisterlike units mounted on traffic signal masts. The boxes on the vehicles emit a strobelike light when they are activated. As the vehicles approach intersections equipped with the system, the units on the traffic signal masts detect the strobe light and alert the signal system’s controller to give an early green light to approaching vehicles.
The devices mounted on the cars cost about $1,000, and it costs $2,000 per direction to install units at intersections.