Feel That Emergency Vehicle Behind You?
Saturday, December 6th, 2008
Emergency vehicles are often slowed by traffic or are involved in accidents because drivers in pedestrian vehicles cannot hear their sirens. Effective interior sound proofing in your car, some hearing loss due to age, ear phones, blaring radios and other conditions means we sometimes cannot hear an emergency vehicle coming.
Not hearing sirens (a cognitive or sensory design problem) is the number one cause of accidents involving emergency and pedestrian vehicles.
Increasing the volume of sirens is likely not the answer but changing the frequency so the sound penetrates the car and vibrates the driver’s body so that they feel it could be. This is the idea behind the Howler siren.
The new “feel me coming” siren is being put to use in Tulsa Oklahoma and South Fort Meyers Florida. At a cost of $400 per siren they are expected to pay for themselves immediately by avoiding accidents.
