Kansas: School Zone Traffic Lights Malfunctioning

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Perhaps the most interesting part of this report is that this problem is happening at other locations around the country...

School zone malfunction remedied by city staff

Story by Chuck Smith

Photo by Mark Bowers

No one knows whether it was a late Y2K glitch or just a coincidence, but

many motorists found their neighborhood school crossing signals malfunctioning this week.

Great Bend Police Department Capt. Bob Robinson said in some cases the lights did not function at all. Others blinked when they were not supposed to and in some places, one side of the sign would work while the other would not.

The signs are computer controlled and problems developed Tuesday morning. Those problems became more widespread Wednesday, so city staff began asking the manufacturers for answers.

City staff found out the problem, which was affected by a faulty microchip, was not confined to Great Bend, but was cropping up elsewhere around the country.

By late Wednesday, however, the problem was on the road to getting solved and Robinson said it would not be an on-going issue.

For future reference, Robinson said in the event flashing lights at school zones are not working, and school is in session, the enforced speed limit is still 20 mph.

Link to story:

http://ajr.newslink.org/cgi/goto.cgi?2=001578

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 03, 2000


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