Fake "Speed Enforced By Drones" Signs On California Freeways

NF6X writes "CBS station KPIX reports that somebody has been installing counterfeit traffic signs on California bay area freeways, warning motorists of drone-based speed enforcement. They are professionally-made reflective metal signs of comparable style and quality to official traffic signs, and in some cases are even mounted with tamper-resistant hardware. The signs show the familiar silhouette of an MQ-1 Predator drone launching a weapon. According to KPIX, California Highway Patrol denies that they operate any drones, and states that the signs are fake."

Comments

If you can't trust the authenticity of the signs..

[Anonymous Coward]

How can you be expected to obey the speed limit?

Spread Awareness

[TFlan91]

Good way to spread awareness and possible outcomes of drone oversight....

YOU'RE GOING 2 MPH OVER THE SPEED LIMIT! YOU HAVE 3 SECONDS TO DECELERATE!
*1 sec later*
DID I SAY 3? TOO LATE!
*fires hellfire missile*

Re:Spread Awareness

[Valdrax]

Okay, that's a pretty horrible potential future, but I think I could live with it if they also targeted tailgaters and people who don't use their turn signals.

Re:Spread Awareness

[Anonymous Coward]

You must be that asshole in the left lane. MOVE OVER, and stop worrying about wtf is behind you!

Re:Spread Awareness

[quacking duck]

You must be that asshole in the left lane. MOVE OVER, and stop worrying about wtf is behind you!

I will not move over to let your sorry ass take my spot, no matter how impatient you are or how close you ride my bumper, if the car(s) in front of ME is what's actually holding up the left lane.

Don't tailgate, period.

Re:Spread Awareness

[Anonymous Coward]

Hilarious! In 40 years of driving I've never had an issue, nor cared about someone behind me. You guys/gals must have some stellar driving skills that piss people off enough that make them want to drive up on you. If you're blocking the left lane, move over, I don't care what the speed limit is. Forcing people to pass on the right is far worse. There's only one thing you can do, and that's control yourself, don't try and control others. The minute you try and control others by blocking the left lane, and forcing them to pass on the right, what happens? You create a more dangerous situation by making others pass on the right, and road rage. So the next time you get the holier-than-thou attitude you might just get shot over it. Is your life or your family's life worth it? "Well, I was doing 10 over the speed limit" Who cares. Move. You have zero right to block the left lane. None. I don't care if you're doing 50 mph over the limit. Left lane ALWAYS gets faster traffic. Period. So by all means, continue to be a rolling road block, see how long you live. Have you ever been rear ended by a tailgater? And if so, how'd the insurance work out for ya? I'm guessing in your favor.

Re:Spread Awareness

[jittles]

You do realize that YOU are breaking the law by not moving over when you are driving in the left lane? Yes, even if you are speeding. YOU should learn to read the damn traffic laws, forfeit your license, or both.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that only apply in two situations:

1) You are travelling less than the speed limit AND slower than the flow of traffic. (Vehicle Code Section 21654.) 2) You are on a two-lane road, and there are more than five vehicles lined up behind you. (Vehicle Code Section 21656.)

You may consider yourself corrected (emphasis mine):

21654. (a) Notwithstanding the prima facie speed limits, any vehicle proceeding upon a highway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at such time shall be driven in the right-hand lane for traffic or as close as practicable to the right-hand edge or curb, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction or when preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

IT'S NOT FAKE!

[DickBreath]

I have definitely seem some of these drones sitting in their car, parked in a way that they think nobody can see them, eating donuts and using their radar gun.

Re:IT'S NOT FAKE!

[Sarten-X]

Instead of handing out tickets, they could park conspicuously and therefore force everyone to slow down so everyone's doing the limit on that stretch of road.

I grew up in a nice bit of farmland, and for a while a nearby town had a single officer, on duty 9am-5pm. From earlier and busier times, the town had a whopping three patrol cars - the nice big Crown Vics with the full-size light bar that any driver with enough vision to drive could see from several miles down the town's one main road. During a particularly bad summer tourist season, that one cop started moving the cars to good locations just inside the town limits. They'd be parked on dirveways (with permission) or lots where they wouldn't be in the way, with just enough cover to look like they were trying to hide, but not enough cover to do so effectively.

It worked. Traffic usually slowed down, and the one officer could spend his limited time watching from the one stoplight in the town center.

Re:Missile gave it away

[Anonymous Coward]

some one released the signs early. they are not getting drones until 2015

Re:Missile gave it away

[mcmonkey]

I would have taken that seriously if not for the missile.

You have a strange outlook on life.

I can stand to pay a speeding ticket, but a missle I take seriously!

My fav road sign

[OzPeter]

While not a fake sign, a long time ago (as indicated by the message) there was a sign warning "Police Aerial Speed Checks" that was tagged with "Pigs in Spaaaaaace"

If you're going to troll, troll in style.

[jeffb (2.718)]

I'd like to shake the hand of whoever is behind this. I have to respect anyone who's willing to put serious effort and bucks into this kind of culture-jamming.

Re:If you're going to troll, troll in style.

[JDG1980]

Here's his website: http://stephenwhisler.net/Stephen_Whisler.html. And a direct link to the page on this prank / performance art: http://stephenwhisler.net/Sculpture/Pages/Speed_Enforced_by_Drones.html.

Might save taxpayers money...

[stewsters]

Have the police take them down and keep them. I'm sure they will be useful again in about 2 years at the rate privacy is going over here.

Re:If you can't trust the authenticity of the sign

[Rockoon]

It is (or should be) well known that signs like these are a lie. All my life I have seen these "speed limit enforced by aircraft" signs, which tells me that there is no speed enforcement on that road at all.

If there was actual speed enforcement on the road, they wouldn't jeopardize the revenue stream by putting up signs.

Re:If you can't trust the authenticity of the sign

[interval1066]

I think the fake signs are a completely on-point commentary of the time.

Re:If you can't trust the authenticity of the sign

[Anonymous Coward]

That is what you think until you get pulled over by a cop that is already waiting for you and that cop tells you that the plane clocked you at a certain speed. Trust me, those "by aircraft" signs are real.

Sign artist has now been ID'd

[JDG1980]

According to NBC News, the fake drone signs were a bit of performance art by a local guy named Stephen Whisler. He described his motivation as " partially political and partially a prank".

Re:"FAKE"

[JeanCroix]

Senator Vreenak is outraged.

Re:"FAKE"

[Mashiki]

The real question is who is behind this?

Well it's California, so it could be anything from people who support the idea, to people who don't support the idea. To environmentalists who want to scare people into slowing down, to the other end of the spectrum of people who just want traffic to move slower.

My bet rests with someone inside the DOT who knows someone at a plant that turns out the signs. And got them to do up a bunch.

Re:Missile gave it away

[Kjella]

I think he meant he would assume the signs were real except for the missile.

Did you hear that WHOOSH? No it was not a missile, it was a joke going over your head...

Re:If you can't trust the authenticity of the sign

[whoever57]

They don't even need aircraft, I have seen officers noting license plates and the time they pass on a stretch of highway. They relay it to another officer much further down (in this case about 40 miles) and if you get there under a certain time they pull you over for speeding.

I don't think so (from California Vehicle Code Section 40802 -- Speed Traps)

Speed Traps

40802. (a) A "speed trap" is either of the following:

(1) A particular section of a highway measured as to distance and with boundaries marked, designated, or otherwise determined in order that the speed of a vehicle may be calculated by securing the time it takes the vehicle to travel the known distance.

Speed traps are illegal in California.

Re:"FAKE"

[Synerg1y]

Sir... the drones you see flying over your head do not monitor if you're speeding. They are merely ensuring you're not a terrorist by adding your license plate, name, and the current speed you're going into our ultra secure database. Nothing to see here, move along.

Re:"FAKE"

[Beardo the Bearded]

"We don't have drones, and we certainly don't have drones that can fire weaponry."

Seems legit.

Re:If you can't trust the authenticity of the sign

[ShanghaiBill]

(1) A particular section of a highway measured as to distance and with boundaries marked, designated, or otherwise determined in order that the speed of a vehicle may be calculated by securing the time it takes the vehicle to travel the known distance.

Speed traps are illegal in California.

As they should be. The problem with any automated system is they treat middle class white people the same as the blacks and teenagers that the cops are supposed to be focusing on. We can't allow that.

Re:"FAKE"

[SanDiegoFreeway]

My bet rests with someone inside the DOT who knows someone at a plant that turns out the signs. And got them to do up a bunch.

It's actually simple to go out to any company that does signage for the state and get them to make signs to state standards for you. I once worked on a software project codenamed "Freeway" and thought it would be cute to have a couple Freeway Entrance signs made to put up in the halls on our floor of the building. The only question the company asked me was to confirm they were for private use.