Copper thieves darken streetlights, create road hazards

[Car Crashes Mean Car Sales - GM loves highway criminals]

Another problem that goes unfixed because obozo insists on giving
trillions of $ to bankers and illegals.

http://www.indystar.com/usatoday/article/52246008?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|IndyStar.com|s

Copper thieves darken streetlights, create road hazards
8:44 PM, Dec. 27, 2011 | Comments
Nighttime stretches of road across the USA are being left dark by the
theft of copper wiring from streetlights, and police are investigating
whether the darkness contributed to some crashes.

Copper thieves also are hitting traffic lights. The problem is
particularly acute for localities where the sour economy has already
left coffers bare and officials cannot afford to replace the wiring.

Among the places hit:

•In Kentucky, copper thieves have left about 450 highway lights dark
in the Lexington area, many of them located at ramps for Interstates
64 and 75. Damage could total $500,000. "These copper thieves are
victimizing Kentucky taxpayers … taking hard-earned money out of their
pockets in the form of costly damages and making it difficult to
navigate some heavily traveled roadways and interchanges at night,"
state Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock says.

•Hawaii will spend more than $3 million next year to repair lights on
the H-1 and H-2 freeways that have been dark for several years. The
state had replaced wiring in those lights, but it was promptly stolen
again, says Dan Meisenzahl, a state transportation department
spokesman.

•Police in Colorado Springs are investigating the 4 a.m. crash of a
milk tanker that overturned on a stretch of Interstate 25 that was
darkened because copper wiring had been stolen from streetlights. The
truck driver was critically injured, and police are looking into
whether darkness was a factor.

•In Vallejo, Calif., thieves stripped copper wiring from nearly 80
streetlights and from traffic lights at five intersections. The city
couldn't afford to replace some of the wiring, and some intersections
were turned into four-way stops; the city posted signs warning:
"Signal Lights Are Non-Functioning Due To Copper Wire Theft."

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