Green Lantern to Light the Way for Ohio's Snowplows, Sort Of

[Elizabeth Grunewald]

Green Lantern to Light the Way for Ohio's Snowplows, Sort Of

The Ohio Department of Transportation names Green Lantern as the inspiration behind a plan to put green lights on the state's snowplows.

There have already been 63 crashes involving a snowplow in the state of Ohio this year. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) compared that number to the 57 such crashes from all of the 2009-2010 winter and decided to take super-heroic action. ODOT has budgeted to put blinking green LED lights on the state's snowplows, and is announcing that Green Lantern is going to save Ohioans from snowplow accidents.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer-affiliated Cleveland.com, quoting an ODOT press release, reports, "taking a cue from the comic book superhero who uses green light to protect the people of Earth, the Ohio Department of Transportation is hoping a Green Lantern will protect its snowplows from a dangerous spike in crashes this season." The article goes on to malign the current yellow lights affixed to the plows, even noting, "the yellow lantern is a symbol of evil wielded by the renegade Green Lantern, Sinestro, in DC's Green Lantern comics."

I lived my entire life in the state until last month, and so feel a proprietary permission to make fun of this analogy. Really, Ohio? Green wasn't just the most visible color not already claimed by police cars, fire trucks, or ambulances?

The press release, complete with super-exciting pictures of this brilliantly marketed minor change, is available here [http://www.dot.state.oh.us/news/Pages/ODOTseeksGreenLanternHelptoProtectSnowplows.aspx].

Good grief.

Source: Comic Book Resources [http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/12/superhero_green_lantern_inspir.html]

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[Alluos]

In brightest day, in whitest snow...
I think they're just desperately trying to stick in a reference any where possible personally.

 

[RoBi3.0]

Ohio Represent!

LOL, that is hilarious beyond compare. This is why Ohio rocks.

 

[Tim Latshaw]

But doesn't green mean "go"? Seriously. If you were in a blinding snowstorm and all you could see were green lights, isn't it conceivable that you might think you're at a clear intersection and drive into the back of the plow?

 

[SpcyhknBC]

If I recall, I thought green was for EMTs in civilian cars, though that may be just for New York. I also believe that green is the most visible color out of the spectrum detectable by the human eye.

 

[Swaki]

dont be so cynical, i think its cute, i can just imagine the guy behind this being named dad of the year by his kids, and attaching a superhero name to something that saves life is pretty awesome.

oh and its great publicity for the upcoming movie.

 

[RoBi3.0]

But doesn't green mean "go"? Seriously. If you were in a blinding snowstorm and all you could see were green lights, isn't it conceivable that you might think you're at a clear intersection and drive into the back of the plow?

If someone is in a blinding snowstorm and decides it is safe to drive anywhere, they are a retard and deserve what they get.

 

[Quaxar]

Heh, now all they need is an oath that every driver has to say before starting his plow...

In brightest day, in blackest night
no snowplow shall escape my sight.
Let those, who worship winter's might
beware our powers, green snowplow's light!

This may be a stupid media thing, but I'm just too much of a GL fan to care. Huzza!

 

[Tim Latshaw]

But doesn't green mean "go"? Seriously. If you were in a blinding snowstorm and all you could see were green lights, isn't it conceivable that you might think you're at a clear intersection and drive into the back of the plow?

If someone is in a blinding snowstorm and decides it is safe to drive anywhere, they are a retard and deserve what they get.

It's not just people who "decide it is safe" who might be out in a snowstorm. There could be people who are driving because of an emergency of some sort, not to mention emergency responders themselves.

 

[Secret world leader (shhh)]

In other news, the UK government (ba dum tish) has launched a new campaign to clean up the nation's busses, they call it...Batman.

 

[dragontiers]

This is simultaneously the worst and best thing I've ever seen. Is it so great it's terrible, or so terrible it's great? I don't know!

But doesn't green mean "go"? Seriously. If you were in a blinding snowstorm and all you could see were green lights, isn't it conceivable that you might think you're at a clear intersection and drive into the back of the plow?

I'm guessing the lights will probably be the rotating type normally found on snowplows, in which case it's usually very easy to tell the difference between that and a static traffic light. Also, while it might be harder to tell in a snowstorm, there is usually a good amount of height difference between a light on top of a plow and a traffic light. It probably won't be that confusing.

 

[CJ1145]

As an Ohian, I must first express my discontent that you would become such a Benedict Arnold, Elizabeth. Second, I must state that this is thoroughly awesome for an idea. Whoever came up with it deserves a medal.

 

[Outlaw Torn]

There have already been 63 crashes involving a snowplow in the state of Ohio this year.

The same snowplow?

 

[The Diabolical Biz]

Heh, now all they need is an oath that every driver has to say before starting his plow...

In brightest day, in blackest night
no snowplow shall escape my sight.
Let those, who worship winter's might
beware our powers, green snowplow's light!

This may be a stupid media thing, but I'm just too much of a GL fan to care. Huzza!

That, good sir, was an awesome rhyme.

OT: It's cool. But all this publicity makes me want to read Green Lantern...

 

[RoBi3.0]

But doesn't green mean "go"? Seriously. If you were in a blinding snowstorm and all you could see were green lights, isn't it conceivable that you might think you're at a clear intersection and drive into the back of the plow?

If someone is in a blinding snowstorm and decides it is safe to drive anywhere, they are a retard and deserve what they get.

It's not just people who "decide it is safe" who might be out in a snowstorm. There could be people who are driving because of an emergency of some sort, not to mention emergency responders themselves.

I don't think any of those people are going to be gunning it through an "intersection" in a blinding snowstorm.

Also there is a point in time when even the snowplows give up and go home; to wait for the storm to pass. I would imagine that blinding snowstorm would qualify as one of those points in time.

Further more if you look at the pics in the link provided, again, you would have to be pretty stupid to mistake a snowplow for a intersection..

 

[WanderingFool]

I feel good now, this story made me smile...

 

[Swny Nerdgasm]

Heh, now all they need is an oath that every driver has to say before starting his plow...

In brightest day, in blackest night
no snowplow shall escape my sight.
Let those, who worship winter's might
beware our powers, green snowplow's light!

This may be a stupid media thing, but I'm just too much of a GL fan to care. Huzza!

Just change it to "no snowdrift shall escape my sight"

 

[The Random One]

It's easy to make a weird twist to a lame piece of government news, but kudos to them for being so deadpan about it.

 

[ImprovizoR]

Nerds are slowly but surely taking over the world. Which is awesome.

 

[tawmus]

I usually notice the snowplows in Ohio, due to their size, giant plow on the front, and blinking lights. I guess adding green lights will help?