Contrary to the dire warnings of a widely circulated e-mail, says the Michigan Department of Transportation, there is no 31-day speeding-ticket bonanza in the offing on the Great Lakes State’s highways. The e-mail is a version of a sort of serial hoax foisted upon truckers and other citizens as early as 2005, according to Snopes.com. Follow that link and you’ll find the original warning of a “>30-day speeding ticket frenzy” barked upon to collect a whopping “$9 million” in fines in New Jersey, dated May 2005, and several others that followed.
It’s doubtful any truckers fell for the latest hoax, as it warns of a veritable impossibility a sharp OO or company driver would note immediately: MI-DOT “>intercept” trucks parked by the roadway and capable of catapulting “from snow plow speed to intercept speed in seconds. And when the engine boost kicks in, the warning lights automatically change from flashing yellow to the dreaded red and blue!”
If emOverdrive‘s Worst Roads survey is any indicator, MI-DOT has enough trouble keeping the roadways smooth, much less patrolled by futuristic truck technology. Keep an eye out for future mailings. After a somewhat dormant period in 2007, the Snopes page suggests, the hoaxes seem to be on another uptick this year. . .
