23 Jul Speed Enforced By Drones?
Not many people would describe highway signs as potentially frightening, but there is one type of sign out there that has been giving people a bit of a scare: fake, but realistic, highway signs saying “speed enforced by drones” and showing an attack drone launching a weapon have been popping up all over the San-Fransisco area.
Several signs have cropped up on Bay Area highways, telling drivers that drones are enforcing speed limits. The California Highway Patrol told KPIX 5 the signs are fakes and that they do not have drones.
“As people are driving by and they see something like this, it’s definitely a distraction,” said Officer Andrew Barclay of the California Highway Patrol.
“The first officer who saw this on Highway 37 was out patrolling his beat…did a double take, flipped around, came back, and confirmed it was what he saw.”
The metal signs say, “Speed enforced by drones.” They also show a drone firing a weapon.
Barclay said the signs violate Section 21465 of the California Vehicle Code, which prohibits imitation signs from being posted on highways.
According to Barclay, whoever made the signs knew what they were doing. “Professional materials, it is a black & white reflective sign, just like the signs that we use on the side of the roadfor speed limits, and everything else,” he said.
“One of the signs that we found on Highway 37 was actually mounted using tamper-resistant bolts,” Barclay said. “The other two signs were strapped using metal strapping on poles on the side of the freeway.”
Barclay said the agency does not have the unmanned aircraft.
“At CHP we definitely do not have drones. We use radar, lidar, pace, we have planes and we have helicopters, but we do not have drones,” he said. “Along with not having drones we definitely do not have any drones that would fire any type of weaponry.”
Several more signs have popped up on Bay Area roadways on Thursday. The Highway Patrol is investigating and checking in with sign makers to see if they filled the unique order.