Distracted driving is one the greatest scourges of our time, rivalling drunk driving as the roadgoing activity most likely to end in tragedy. Cell phones calls, texting, and cumbersome infotainment systems all contribute to a populace overwhelmed with distractions.
In light of this, the last thing any speeding driver needs is a massive roadside screen displaying a porno flick.
Police in Auburn Hills, Michigan have released surveillance video of two young men suspected in Saturday night’s impromptu roadside movie night. At 10:49 p.m., the Detroit Free Press reports, two individuals broke into the shed housing the controls for an electronic billboard placed along the I-75, near the M-59 interchange.
The two individuals, looking pasty and wearing glasses, may have used skills honed during hours-long basement video game marathons to switch the billboard feed from the existing ads to an X-rated movie. The sudden changeover from yawn-inducing commercial to writhing bodies didn’t result in any accidents, thankfully, but that doesn’t mean the boys are off the hook for their 15- to 20-minute cinema project.
According to the cops, promoting smut in the manner in which they did carries a possible sentence of 90 days in jail, as well as a $500 fine. Then there’s the felony burglary charge.
“You don’t see that everyday,” one amused driver told WXYZ Detroit after passing the billboard Saturday night. “You could kind of see people started to brake a lot behind me, cause I think they were doing the same thing, like a double take.”
Anyone with information as to the suspects’ identity are encouraged to call 248-364-9460. Now, If only Auburn Hills PD could do something about the message that inadvertently pops up on my Cruze’s infotainment screen, informing me that taking my eyes off the road can lead to an accident. I have to take my eyes off the road to click the “OK” button.
[Image: Ford]
LOL…human ingenuity knows no bounds.
This is a lot funnier than changing the electronic signs from “construction ahead” to “zombie apocalypse.”
I did a search and quickly found a 29 slide Powerpoint deck on how to do this.
Hacking billboards!
What will they think of next??!!
Pictures or it didn’t happen!
Better pr0n than:
YOURE SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT HAS BEN COMPROMISE
PLEASE CALL 011-234-09-872-4386 TO FIX AT ONCE
Yeah, I got that call, and one claiming the IRS had sent the cops to wait for me outside my house.
The IRS is SWATting you? Lol.
Victimless crime unless they broke a deadbolt. No fine or jail, but they should do 100 hours of community service. May I suggest picking up trash by this billboard and around nearby strip clubs?
I take it you’re either not a parent, or a bad one.
You can be sure they broke into the control panel. I seriously doubt they were door knob jiggling on a road side, happened to find it unlocked and also knew what to do to change the display.
I wonder what they used for their leave behind video source? The classic would be an old VHS player with a 1980s tape.
A grainy, tearing, sixth-generation copy of “The Devil and Miss Jones”.
I’ll never be labeled an Internet Smut Merchant. And that makes me sad.
A good morning laugh .
Glad no one crashed, kinda surprised no mouth breathers parked to watch .
-Nate
A couple drivers reported traffic slowing behind them. And that stretch of I-75 is always heavily-traveled, even around 11:00pm.
That’d give new meaning to the term “red light district!”
F**k this motherf**king traffic in the metro Detroit area…
…I can’t take it much longer, especially with MANY roads now under construction/re-construction (an annual thing in this sh*thole state) and some being closed in one direction or the other completely.
Between the traffic, horrendous roads, horrendous property taxes ($13,000 annually on a $830,000 home) brutal winters, I’m reaching my breaking point, and am seriously thinking about moving to the southwest, where I travel to for biz a lot anyways, and have many great offers from large corporations as it stands.
Is the I-75 rebuild in Oakland County as much of a PITA as I suspect it would be?
At least they moved the timetable up, in order to rip the scab off quickly and get it done!