Taxi GPS 'can change traffic lights'

Basq · 19-04-2012 09:31AM #1

To quote Will Smith in Indepedence Day - "I have got to get me one of these!"..

Source

Any taxi drivers on here know of these... and where I can get one?

Sounds a bit fishy to me tbh!

smash · 19-04-2012 09:34AM

I didn't know that traffic lights had wifi/bluetooth/whatever. I call bullshít.

SunnyDub1 · 19-04-2012 09:36AM

Sounds like aload of bullsh*t TBH

jameshayes · 19-04-2012 09:38AM

lol - it april 1st again or something?

Seachmall · 19-04-2012 09:40AM

BS.

When I was a kid my aunt told us if you blow at the traffic lights really hard they'll change.

It worked every time. Except the times it didn't, but who remembers those times?

Elevator close buttons don't work either.

19-04-2012 09:40AM

Taxi driver/politician (and Independent journalist) in "does not understand how GPS works" shocker. A GPS receiver doesn't send any signals

kincsem · 19-04-2012 09:41AM

you would swallow a brick

Dyr · 19-04-2012 09:44AM

When did taxi drivers ever give a f**k about traffic lights?

seamus · 19-04-2012 09:44AM

Surely if taxi drivers were able to change the lights with their GPS boxes, they would turn them green, and not red? :rolleyes:

What a fncking numpty. Complete waste of council time and money.

Gee Bag · 19-04-2012 09:48AM

An investigation has been launched? into what? How f*ckwits get elected to be county councillors?

granturismo · 19-04-2012 09:48AM

I answered my phone once when standing beside a traffic light and the light turned green. Where do I market this magic device.

Wossack · 19-04-2012 09:50AM

seamus wrote: »

Surely if taxi drivers were able to change the lights with their GPS boxes, they would turn them green, and not red? :rolleyes:

What a fncking numpty. Complete waste of council time and money.

not when carrying a fare..! any way to increase the length of a journey

but yea, whole story sounds pretty ludicrous

Biggins · 19-04-2012 09:51AM

Meh!
Amateurs!
I use 'The Force'.

frag420 · 19-04-2012 09:52AM

granturismo wrote: »

I answered my phone once when standing beside a traffic light and the light turned green. Where do I market this magic device.

On the other side of the road..........

poisonated · 19-04-2012 09:56AM

I remember when the independent was a good news paper. That was a very long time ago though!

Run_to_da_hills · 19-04-2012 10:01AM

Some traffic lights have built in RFID enabled sensors to give emergency vehicles or public transport priority access, unless the GPS in question was fitted with one of these or there was some frequency conflict with another RFID transmitter such as the eFlow chip it could possibly trigger something.

Biggins · 19-04-2012 10:14AM

poisonated wrote: »

I remember when the independent was a good news paper. That was a very long time ago though!

Jeasus!
...You that old too?

Trevor Kent · 19-04-2012 10:17AM

The system used for the emergency vehicle works on radio signals. The vehicle needs to have a transmitter which sends out one of two possible pairs of "CODED" signals that are decoded by a pair of filters.

Unless the taxi car has this system fitted, the Taxi man is talking balls. An investigation is not needed if he thinks his GPS did it.

bananarama22 · 19-04-2012 10:26AM

Seachmall wrote: »

BS.

When I was a kid my aunt told us if you blow at the traffic lights really hard they'll change.

It worked every time. Except the times it didn't, but who remembers those times?

Elevator close buttons don't work either.

They do sometimes, some elevators are programmed or wired to make use of them, some aren't. It's like having an extra lightswitch in your house that's not actually connected to any light, but the house just came with it by default.

LLU · 19-04-2012 10:38AM

I was amazed, nay excited, I wanted one.
Then I saw it was in the independent and thought 'oh well'.
To condense this thread into one sentence:

Bloke sits in car with a satnav, sees pedestrian lights go green to red with nobody around, concludes it must be his satnav which did it, tells the independent, independent prints story.

LLU · 19-04-2012 10:40AM

and the other annoying bit is that every presenter on every national radio station will lift this from the paper and have a lengthy discussion about it.

c_man · 19-04-2012 10:42AM

It was front page of the local rag, gotta be true.

kylith · 19-04-2012 10:43AM

So what happens if there's 2 taxis, one going one way and the other coming from the right? Do all the light turn red and they have to sit there forever? If this were even remotely true it'd play hell with the traffic flow.

I was driving up the road last night and all the lights turned green as we drew near them. The only logical answer must be that my phone turned the lights green.

Duggy747 · 19-04-2012 10:46AM

Neo drives a taxi?

Recession must have hit Zion, too.

Paparazzo · 19-04-2012 10:47AM

An enquiry for this? Jesus wept, I had to check the date on the article to make sure it wasn't an april fool article left up on the website. Old people shouldn't be let near technology.

Joe Duffy was convinced his Leap card could work his photocopier.

kylith · 19-04-2012 10:52AM

Paparazzo wrote: »

Joe Duffy was convinced his Leap card could work his photocopier.

Bwahahahaha! How did he come to that conclusion?

19-04-2012 10:53AM

I was in a taxi in the am before. At every traffic light when nobody was around he would start flashing his lights.

He claimed it would make them change. I had a good chuckle the whole way home.

Stark · 19-04-2012 10:54AM

kylith wrote:

Bwahahahaha! How did he come to that conclusion?

He has to come out with these things every now and again so he can pretend to be down on the level with his callers.

The only thing interesting to come of the story is it shows that the buttons on the pedestrian lights were there just for show.

hardCopy · 19-04-2012 10:58AM

Bullsh, it's obviously a ghost.

Seachmall · 19-04-2012 10:59AM

Stark wrote: »

The only thing interesting to come of the story is it shows that the buttons on the pedestrian lights were there just for show.

Ah, we're so easily appeased.

gubbie · 19-04-2012 11:00AM

Basq wrote: »

To quote Will Smith in Indepedence Day - "I have got to get me one of these!"..

Source

Any taxi drivers on here know of these... and where I can get one?

Sounds a bit fishy to me tbh!

Taxi drivers shouldn't have them but bus drivers should. They have them in Switzerland. If they have to turn right and there is oncoming traffic, I dunno how, but communication happens and suddenly the bus can turn

It's genius!

Taxi GPS 'can change traffic lights'

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