Who is sig in sigalert

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan. Transportation California. Expand Comments View the discussion thread. Most Read. Dormitory Planning Takes a Turn Toward the Absurd at UC Santa Barbara A controversy over a massive new dorm proposed for the University of California Santa Barbara, which comes with design strings attached by the donor paying for the new facility, has taken the Internet by storm.

November 7, - Chris Freda. Origins: Traffic snarls and interminable drive-time delays are an unpleasant fact of life in Los Angeles. The burgeoning population close to 10 million for all of Los Angeles County at last count and the great distances traversed daily by many L. One breakdown in a key lane, or even a simple fender-bender, can cause traffic to back up for miles; fatal accidents or other impediments can close vital roads for hours at a time.

Routine traffic updates that mention the nature and. Minor accidents and slowdowns are routine and, although annoying, are considered an ordinary part of the commute.

But what about the large-scale interruptions; the overturned rig sprawling across three lanes, the five-car injury wreck, the hazardous materials spill, or the bomb threat?

The confusion is understandable, since even the arbiter of such distinctions--the CHP--is a bit hazy on the subject. By pressing a button, the engineer could air the message within a matter of seconds and would often break into a program. SigAlerts of that era warned listeners of such problems as flood warnings, gas leaks and missing children in addition to traffic congestion. In one case, a pharmacist who had made a potentially deadly error in writing out a prescription phoned police; the customer heard the ensuing SigAlert in time to avoid disaster.

SigAlerts really caught on. Bob Hope made jokes about them. They were mentioned in movies. LAPD officers could leave information on the tape from wherever they were in the field. Local media outlets would be alerted by a buzzing sound or red light on their receivers indicating that a new message had been recorded.

They could then quickly and efficiently relay that message to their audience. The system was a hit and quickly made available to a wide variety of media outlets.