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Legislative Watch
LEGISLATIVE

Kentucky

12/30/03-Rep. John Vincent wants to outlaw the use of a device that can change some traffic signals from red to green.
Vincent, R-Ashland, has drafted a bill intended to deter anyone other than public safety and transit agencies from using Mobile Infrared Transmitters, or MIRT.
Under the proposal, a person caught using the device could be fined $250. Repeat offenders could be jailed up to one year and pay a $500 fine.
A person involved in an accident while using the device could be sentenced to one year in prison and fined $500. A second accident conviction could result in a five-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.
The devices, which sit on a vehicle’s dash, are not regulated by current federal standards because they rely on a beam of light instead of a radio wave to trigger the light-changing mechanisms that have been attached to some intersections.
A traffic-light changer is designed to allow police, fire and other emergency officials to clear intersections before they approach. The device has been in use at intersections since the early 1970s.
A recent U.S. Department of Transportation survey showed the devices are in use at 26,500 intersections in 78 cities across the country.
Lawmakers will reconvene at the Capitol Jan. 6.

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LEGISLATIVE