Impersonator or not?

[RyanZ71]

What do you make of these lights that can be controlled via cell phone apps? Think a boyfriend or husband was playing with her? At least she called it in.

No impersonator! Driver had no idea car was flashing police lights

A driver on her way to grab lunch Wednesday was surprised to see so many cars pulling over in front of her for no apparent reason.

www.fox13now.com

 

[NPS Ranger]

When I was a teen riding in my father's carpool one day, we were all mystified how all the cars on the NJ Turnpike were pulling out of the fast lane during rush hour and we just sailed by. It was only when we got to the toll booth for the Lincoln Tunnel that we noticed the reflection of our blue light behind the grill, on the tailgate of the station wagon in front of us (VFD). Hit the switch with his knee getting in, no interior pilot light. It does happen!

 

[JohnMarcson]

None of this answers why the lights were installed. The article says the vehicle owner removed them, so it isn't likely to be a family member of a vollie driving their car and hitting the wrong button. If the article said "the owner has since added a feature to disable the lights when unauthorized persons use the car", I'd say legit vehicle with unaware driver. But in this context the legit vehicle part is pretty questionable. Whether the driver knew or not, the lights were removed, which to me is pretty telling. I helped a guy (volunteer fire) install a keyed cutoff for his lights so his wife and kids could drive the car when he was away. That was after his teenage kid "accidently" hit them at a very convenient time for it to be an accident. Regardless they weren't removed, he was told to secure or remove them from any car he was letting others drive (he chose secure). So unless this was a vollie or other authorized person who chose the remove route vs. secure, it sounds fishy.

 

[Impala9C1]

Sounds like there are facts missing to judge it appropriately

 

[JohnMarcson]

Sounds like there are facts missing to judge it appropriately

The reporting certainly doesn't seem complete

 

[TDC]

All these teens and young adults add these lights; here it is to trucks. Sirens, too. All available on Amazebay.
There are no colors "locked out", and everything is activated by phone app ... we see them at the gas station all the time, standing back and using their phones to make flashy things.
They roll with them on going down the road, too ... strobing rock lights, rainbow led lights around the headlights, colored driving lights. It is everywhere.

So, I'm guessing while she was driving away, he figured it would be fun to see his car in action from the outside and turned them on ... and ran out of bluetooth energy by distance when it was time to shut them off. Only thing he could do was call her and say, "Hey..."

 

[Sparky_911]

This kinda reminds me of the old days of "neons" and the 90s JCWhitney catalog that sold the stick on strobes and cheapo sirens.

 

[NPS Ranger]

I miss JC Whitney/Warshawsky from back in the day.

 

[Jarred J.]

its still around as carparts.com but not the fun stuff