‘I almost crashed’: Hardcore porn broadcast on giant advertising billboard above motorway

Police hunting two young men seen breaking into building where sign is controlled

Pornography played on Interstate 75 billboards (Screengrab / Twitter / jaeblasia)

When Dr Justin Kammo saw the digital motorway billboard he admitted: “I kind of almost got in an accident.”

He was, it seems, not the only one as hundreds of drivers travelling along Interstate 75 in the US state of Michigan were greeted with hardcore pornography on one of the massive video hoardings for more than 15 minutes.

“You could kind of see people started to brake,” Dr Kammo told the WCSC-TV news channel. “Because I think they were doing the same thing, like a double take.”

Police in the town of Auburn Hills said they were hunting two suspects who were caught on CCTV breaking into a building under the electronic sign which houses its controlling computer.

The young males wearing hoodies and glasses – are believed to have reprogrammed the billboard to play the offending video.

“Promoting pornography and/or promoting pornography for minors by disseminating any pornographic material, images [or] videos is a violation of an Auburn Hills local ordinance with a possible penalty of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine," said Lieutenant Ryan Gagnon in a statement. “These suspects now face potential burglary charges for forcing entry into the building to gain access to the computer system, which is a felony offence.”

It is unclear exactly how many underage passengers would have seen the video which was broadcast at 11pm on Saturday night.

But Lt Gagnon said multiple calls had been made to police about the film.

While no accidents had occurred because of motorists taking their eyes off the road, the footage had been “a huge distraction to drivers and obviously obscene and inappropriate", he said.

He added: “It was dark out, so the screen was glowing really bright.”

The operator of the sign was identified by police as the Toronto-based company Triple Communications, who were able to shut it down remotely.

“It was very bizarre,” said another motorist Chuck McMahon. “I thought maybe it was a billboard for a strip club or something. I was just looking up at it and I was like, ‘Huh, oh, wow. That’s porn’.”