Melted traffic lights: victims of the summer heat?

That traffic light is said to have melted due to the intense heat and high temperatures in Las Vegas. At least that's what the post on the Facebook page “Las Vegas” from June 7, 2023 .

The many places of the melted traffic light

After a user asked about this, we started searching and found quite interesting results. Like, for example, the same photo, but with a different location. Accordingly, the traffic light in Vijayawada, a city in India, is said to have melted. Or maybe in Puerto Rico ? Or in Athens as early as August 2022 ? Or in Italy in July 2022 ?

Maui is also available. At least the Maui Insight melted traffic lights at the end of June - using the same image. We would probably find several more places and times where the picture was taken. But enough guesswork.

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Where was it really so hot?

Surprise: the location wasn't there yet. The traffic light is located in Milan, Italy. Now we are currently hearing about very high temperatures in southern Europe, which would fit with the reasons given for the melting. But the postings about the incident all come from June 2022 or even July and August 2022.

In June 2023, temperatures in Milan were between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius, with a maximum of 33° C on June 29th . In July 2022, the maximum temperature was measured at 37°C . It should be clear that this will not be enough to melt a traffic light, otherwise we would have encountered such deformed structures several times before.

It's very simple: the melting did not occur due to heat, but as a result of a fire at the relevant intersection.

The real story behind the photo

On July 25, 2022, a momentous accident occurred at an intersection in Milan. A scooter parked next to the traffic light caught fire. The heat caused by the burning scooter caused the traffic light to melt. So it wasn't the extraordinary heat, but the fire that gave the traffic light a Salvador Dali look.

In July 2022, the Italian blogger Simone Lunghi published a video about it on Instagram. You can get some information about the location here: Yes, the traffic light is in Milan, more precisely at the intersection of Viale Regina Margherita/Via Bergamo .

“Open” website asked the city fire department about this and received confirmation: In the late afternoon of July 25, 2022, a scooter caught fire at this location. The local police also confirmed this. “Open” further reports that the firefighters explained that the scooter had a full tank and that the heat had probably caused it to ignite.

The viral spread

As is often the case, the photo was shared and distributed without careful fact-checking. Conflicting claims about where the photo was taken added further confusion. Some users claimed that the traffic light in Las Vegas melted, while others pointed to Athens or even India as the place of origin. This viral spread and lack of background information led to a plethora of false assumptions.

Conclusion

The story of the melted traffic light is another example of how false information can spread across the vastness of social media. Therefore, it is extremely important to be skeptical and verify information before sharing it or accepting it as truth.

In this case, the photo was attributed to different locations, distorting the fact that it was taken in Milan. The traffic light melted not because of extreme heat, but because of a motorcycle fire. Of course, it has now been repaired or replaced, as you can see Google Street View images

Source:

Open , factly.in , facta , newsmobile

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