State Of Michigan Using Radar in Construction Trucks with Radar to Catch Speeders– Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
A forwarded email warning drivers in the State of Michigan that the police are using Department of Transportation trucks equipped with radar detectors to catch speeders on the highways. The sting is called “Operation Yellow Jacket.”
The Truth:
Operation Yellow Jacket is a real police technique that uses construction trucks with disguised law enforcement officers with radar detectors to catch speeders. It is used some states like Pennsylvania but according to an official Michigan State website, the Operation Yellow Jacket warning in the water wonderland state is a hoax.
Click for Michigan Operation Yellow Jacket Information
According to the Michigan site, “Several other states including California, Hawaii, Kentucky, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas have also been targeted in this hoax.”
As in all states, drivers should slow down in road work zones but they should also pay close attention in the state of Pennsylvania where Operation Yellow Jacket is in force. In order to maintain a safe working environment in for Department of Transportation (DOT) workers in the the DOT and the State Police teamed up with a plan to catch speeders on highway work zones. A law enforcement officer wears the work clothes of a DOT employee and sits in a construction truck near the are of the road work with a radar detector. Most speeders slow down when they see a law enforcement vehicle and normally would not notice a person with a radar detector in a construction truck. The speeder’s description and violations are than broadcasted over the police radio for interception by law enforcement officers on motorcycle. In some states, fines are doubled in road work zones.
Click for Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Operation Yellow Jacket Information
updated 03/05/09