- Dec 15, 2002
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An unknown prankster used an electronic road sign on Central Expressway near Park Lane and Northwest Highway to flash the phrase “deez nutz” to passersby overnight Monday. Instagram user philschanbaum captured the pic above.
After reports spread on social media, Texas Department of Transportation officials had a hard time determining just which sign, exactly, was used to disseminate the message because it wasn’t flashing it when crews came on shift Monday morning. But they finally tracked it down to one of the temporary ones on Central.
So how did it happen?
“It was not hacked remotely,” said Tony Hartzel, a spokesman for TxDOT. “It hasn’t been determined if it was a test message or someone who got in to the sign via an unlocked panel.”
So, yeah. Could have been a contractor using the sign trying to be funny. Or someone strolling around a highway tinkering around with an unlocked box.
“That control panel was not locked, so we talked to the contractor about that,” Hartzel said.
This ain’t the first time an electronic road sign in Texas has been hacked. Warnings of a zombie invasion showed up in Austin several years ago.
My editors looked quite perplexed when I told them what had happened ’cause they hadn’t heard anyone say those words together before. Try explaining the origins of that turn of phrase to your bosses. Personally, I thought the term was kinda stale, but according to Know Your Meme, a Vine user gave it somewhat of a new life earlier this year.
Oh, and TxDOT wants to be clear: The agency isn’t laughing (even if you are). It’s a crime to tamper with the signs and if perpetrators are caught, the agency is likely to prosecute. There’s also safety concerns:
“Because they are an unskilled worker on the shoulder of a highway,” says TxDOT spokesman Ryan LaFontaine. “But also, the message itself poses a distraction to every driver on the road.”
