Motorists passing construction sites at night are likely familiar with the brassy glow of halogen bulbs illuminating traffic rules such as “BUCKLE UP” or “LANE CLOSED AHEAD.”
These road signs generally do not display vulgar sex orders to Valley residents on their daily commute. But this week was not typical.
A $30 million road project in North Phoenix was briefly derailed Tuesday night after pranksters hijacked the controls of a message board near Interstate-17 and Thunderbird Road.
The flashing sign and its messages are overseen by the project’s prime contractor, North Dakota-based Fisher Sand and Gravel Co., with secondary headquarters in Tempe.
Backlit billboards will remain on site until next year while workers install a drainage system between Greenway Road and Dunlap Avenue.
The 3,000 pound sign made by Wanco Inc., based in Colorado. displays three lines of text with up to eight characters on each line.
It was just enough space for pranksters to display the obscene haiku, “SUCK MY ASSHOLE,” to motorists passing a stretch of I-17 that sees more than 100,000 vehicles every day.
Although a moment of levity for stressed drivers may seem innocent, it is still illegal.
The person responsible could be charged with a misdemeanor under an arizona law which makes it illegal to “modify, deface, injure, knock over or remove an official traffic control device”.
If the Phoenix police find the culprit, that person could be confronted six months in jail and a fine of $2,500. A judge could also impose up to three years probation.
It is the same penalty as a DUI conviction.
“We haven’t had this very often,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Phil Krynsky said. “We are studying this.”
According to Krynsky, the suspect could also be charged with “criminal damage” or worse – a crime of computer hacking, which could be a felony.
The police department could not immediately determine whether it had received any official reports of the incident.
“We have not yet heard of a decision regarding police contact,” Arizona Department of Transportation spokesman Doug Nintzel said.
The text on the sign wasn’t corrected until late that night, Nintzel added.
Motorists turning off the freeway to fill up on gas or grab a late dinner at Taco Bell or Whataburger on Thunderbird Road were met with the profane message which was captured on TikTok video and later shared on Reddit.
Whoever was the merry prankster had the finesse to bypass the traffic light’s on-board security system.
According to Wanco, “multi-level password protection limits access to control software” and the control box locks “to prevent unauthorized access”.
This did not bother the mysterious transgressor.
Fisher Sand and Gravel said it was “unable to speculate” whether any of its own employees tampered with the message board.
The Phoenix Police Department could launch its own investigation to respond to such a request.
Bulletin board technology is expensive, but security measures are included in the high price, manufacturers claim.
The new LED message signs cost around $300,000, according to ADOT.
The signs provide “brighter, brighter light, so it’s easier to see the signs and read the messages,” said Chuck Hill, who oversees lighting for ADOT.
In this case, however, such a traffic sign message can cause uncomfortable conversations with passengers, especially if children are in the car.
There are no security cameras around the Thunderbird Road underpass where the sign is located. The potential lack of video evidence is likely to make a police department investigation more difficult.
According to the Department of Transportation, “it’s rare” for people to interfere with traffic signs on the side of the road, Nintzel said.
But hacking into any department of transportation signs to display vulgar messages is more common than it first appears.
In several states, North Carolina for Pennsylvania and even in Maryland traffic sign shenanigans have surfaced in the past four years, according to the Washington Post, USA todayand countless local media.
“This serves as an additional reminder to those using such portable signs to take precautions,” Nintzel said. “Although incidents for our projects have been rare, they can happen.”
In the meantime, stay chic Phoenix.
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