Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed into law a bill outlawing the unauthorized sale, possession or use of controllers that can change some traffic signals from red to green.

A traffic-light changer is designed to allow police, fire and other emergency officials to clear intersections before they approach. But some impatient drivers have managed to purchase them on the Internet for as low as $100, according to published reports.

People can even buy kits and build the signal changer themselves.

Under the bill package – SB842 and SB843 – unlawful sale or purchase of the so-called mobile infrared transmitter, or MIRT, would be a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Unlawful possession would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Anyone who causes a traffic accident using such a device could be charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $15,000 fine. The use of a controller resulting in death would bring a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

“This is a step in the right direction to further protect Michigan's motorists,” Sen. Jud Gilbert, R-Algonac, the bill's sponsor, said in a statement. “Outlawing the use of these devices by regular drivers will prevent our roads from becoming a chaotic video game where everyone is trying to change the lights.”

The devices, which sit on a vehicle's dash, are not regulated by current federal standards because they rely on a beam of light instead of a radio wave to trigger the light-changing mechanisms that have been attached to some intersections.