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Personal Note: My Mysterious Auto Accident to Arbitration

According to my insurance company, my mysterious automobile accident has been referred to arbitration since the other driver also claims to have had a green light.  This again raises the unsettling possibility that the light was green in both directions either due to some rare, mysterious malfunction or — worse — due to tampering or hacking of the traffic light.  This latter possibility could have been a bizarre “prank” or targeted specifically at the other driver or me.

Modern traffic lights are complex computerized devices often with network connections.  Just like personal computers and smartphones, such devices can experience rare, difficult to reproduce “glitches.”  Just like personal computers and smartphones they can be attacked successfully by hackers and other malefactors.

(C) 2018 by John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

About Me

John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

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Report of Deadly Traffic Light Malfunction (Double Green Light) in Detroit 2013

This is a television news report from Detroit (WXYZ-TV Channel 7, Detroit) with a YouTube publication date of May 16, 2013 on a traffic light malfunction that may have caused a fatal accident:

Reporter on the scene is Kim Russell at the intersection of Warren and Beechwood on Detroit’s West Side.  The story shows a double green light with a green light for both Warren and Beechwood at the same time.

Another YouTube video with a television news report of a traffic light malfunction at the intersection of Rossler and Dingens (Dingers caption in the video is incorrect) in Cheektowaga, New York (from WIBV TV Channel 4, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and All of Western New York and Southern Ontario, Published August 27, 2013):

The news reporter on the ground was Lou Raguse of WIVB-TV Channel 4 News.

This is a TV news report on “smart” traffic lights that allegedly turned green at the same time in Point Loma, San Diego, California USA (ABC 10 News, Published April 4, 2017):

In this case, the double green light was not caught on camera so the report depends on eyewitness testimony alone.

UPDATE

Direct link to ABC 10 article/report on traffic lights.

Follow up on April 5, 2017 on testing of traffic lights for possible problem:

http://www.10news.com/news/point-loma-intersection-being-tested-after-reported-close-calls

Follow up video news report:

(C) 2017 by John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

About

John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

 

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Another Article on Hacking Traffic Lights

Lights on Wolfe Should Have Stopped Other Driver
Traffic Lights in Sunnyvale, California (USA)

 

An article from the Washington Post:

“Can hackers take over traffic lights?” by Faiz Siddiqui (Washington Post, August 8, 2015)

A brief excerpt:

But it was the District that captured the attention of Cesar Cerrudo, chief technology officer of IOActive Labs, an Argentina-based security research firm. Cerrudo walked the streets of Capitol Hill last year with a tracking device, seeking to expose vulnerabilities in the District’s traffic system as part of a nonprofit initiative. He has done the same in New York and other cities, usually with similar results, he said.

Cerrudo said he was able to access traffic data at intersections at Union Station, Capitol Hill, and at Third and Madison streets NW. Were he a malicious hacker, he said, he could have gridlocked the entire city, creating paralyzing traffic on North Capitol Street NW or turning neighborhood roads into bona fide freeways.

UPDATE

Related article in The New York Times:

“Traffic Hacking: Caution Light Is On,” by Nicole Perlroth, New York Times, June 10, 2015

This is Cesar Cerrudo’s detailed technical talk at DEFCON 22 on his investigation of traffic control systems covered in the articles:

This is the website of Sensys Networks, the traffic control system discussed in the articles and video above.

(C) 2017 by John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

About

John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).