為上班不遲到 美國男子讓紅綠燈隨心變

　　日前，美國一名男子因偷偷使用改變交通燈信號燈的裝置，被指控涉嫌妨礙交通信號并被處以50美元的罰款。

　　A man who said he bought a device that let him change traffic lights from red to green has received a $50 ticket on suspicion of interfering with a traffic signal.

　　據美聯社4月17日報道，這名來自科羅拉多州朗蒙特市的男子名叫尼克姆。為了在驅車上班途中不被紅綠燈耽誤時間，他在網上購買了這個價值100美元的交通信號燈改變裝置。他說：“我上班總是遲到，在使用它的這兩年里，它完全物有所值。”

　　Jason Niccum of Longmont told the Daily Times-Call that the device, which he bought on eBay for $100, helped him cut his time driving to work.

　　"I guess in the two years I had it, that thing paid for itself," he told the newspaper Wednesday.

　　上月末，警方發現尼克姆使用一個類似頻閃燈的裝置來改變交通信號燈。這種裝置又被稱作Opticon，與消防員應對突發事件時改變信號燈的裝置相似。最初，該市的交通工程師們注意到，每當一輛白色福特車經過十字路口時，所有的交通信號燈都會中斷信號。

　　Niccum was cited March 29 after police said they found him using a strobe-like device to change traffic signals.

　　The device, called an Opticon, is similar to what firefighters use to change lights when they respond to emergencies. It emits an infrared pulse that receivers on the traffic lights pick up.

　　Niccum was cited after city traffic engineers who noticed repeated traffic-light disruptions on certain intersections spotted a white Ford pickup passing by whenever the light patterns were disrupted.

　　朗蒙特市交通工程師奧爾森指出，他們計劃在今年更新該市的Opticon系統，查處那些未經許可擅自使用的改變信號燈裝置。

　　City traffic engineer Joe Olson said traffic engineers plan to update the city's Opticon system this year to block unauthorized light-changing signals.