AN investigation has been launched after it emerged a computer system operated by taxi companies can change traffic lights.

It was sparked after a Galway city councillor, who is also a taxi driver, inadvertently discovered that the GPS system in his car affected the way pedestrian lights operated.

Cllr Frank Fahy (FG) said he made the discovery when parked in his taxi close to a pedestrian crossing at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.

"I noticed that when I used the GPS computer to check my position, the lights changed. Yet there was no one waiting to cross as it was in the early hours of the morning," he said.

Cllr Fahy informed officials in Galway City Council and director of services Ciaran Hayes yesterday confirmed an investigation had been started.

Irish Independent