Many modern cars are designed to minimize outside noises but this is creating issues for emergency responders who need drivers to hear their sirens and yield. NBC News’ Tom Costello has more details on new steps departments are taking to get drivers attention.
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#Cars #Drivers #Driving
They don’t WANT to see or hear you.
….. Today, people seem to be a combination of Self Absorbed, Under Educated, and Really Shouldn’t have a Driver’s License to begin with …..
….. Oh, and doing the above, while On their Cell, Distracted by the Occupants in their car, and just plain Don’t Care ….. Shameful comments of today’s Society ….. 😤 😵💫 …..
I’ll put more blame on the earpieces, earpods, earbuds, earphones, headphones, etc.
NO EXCUSE MOVE OVER GET OUTTA THE WAY PERIOD!!!!
What are some solutions to this? Maybe they can hijack our Bluetooth signals with an alert?
The problem is that people don’t check their mirrors. You wouldn’t need to rely on the sirens if you checked your mirrors. You’ll see them before you hear them. I’ve had hearing loss since I was a kid so I can’t always rely on “hearing” the sirens. I constantly check my mirrors though and yes, I see people who are absolutely clueless that emergency vehicles are coming up behind them.
Aside from headsets, why are there “soundproof” cars in the first place?
It’s not the car but the driver
This is a pet peeve of mine. I’ve done ride alongs with police, and when they are traveling at a high rate of speed, they need the road cleared far in advanced. Yet jerks wait until the last second to move over which slows down the emergency responders.
Most dangerous in intersections. Can’t hear siren means going forward, not realizing a fire truck would be crossing from the left or right until visual is possible.
People are staring at their phones/displays totally obvious.
Enforce tickets on left lane campers
Drivers don’t use their mirrors. The evidence is Left Lane Lucy hogging a lane with 6-7 cars behind and open road in the front. Stay right, Pass left!
How can people move when there is so much traffic…
People have a valid point about attention; however what is important is that systems should not have to entirely rely on good behavior. Thus sound dampening poses a challenge where previously people would at least hear sirens even if they were not paying attention at that moment.
You have a point about that. I thought that was the fist thing you are taught in Drivers Ed “expect people to do the unexpected”. That leads to accidents. Personally I think that’s why they have penalties for not pulling over, just to cover themselves of not being able to comprehend and understand the unpredictability of others.. Sorry for the rant, didn’t expect it to be one.
I doubt that’s the case. In fact if I’ve learned anything about the unjustified deaths of men and women by PD and emergency responders it’s that they’ll save anyone immediately based off biases. Facts and stats don’t lie.
maybe I’m in a super cheap car. I hear sirens every time
Front end push bar. Give those radio blasted & cell phone addicted idiots a bump. They will figure it out. Pay attention people!!!
All that “smart” tech in vehicles nowadays, but we can’t create some sort of Emergency Vehicle Detector/Alert in our “smarter” cars or something?
1:30: “Being delayed by 15 seconds can be the difference between life and death”. Then why doesn’t the media criticize speed bumps? Yes, they slow down speeding cars,but they also slow down emergency vehicles. It is possible that they cost as many lives as they save.
Install train horns
How do driverless cars react when emergency vehicles with siren and lights on approach it from the rear.
What Is The Conversation.????
Richard ..
There Is Only One Hero.
Me Me Me ME.Richard.
Due to ignorance and stupidity not car features
Love how its always the tiniest individual that is the problem not the multibillion dollar company.
Oh wow. Another story with no point or solution. Nice to see the reporter is making ‘points’ why the chief is running lights and sirens. No, that couldnt cause an accident.
Too many cars on the road
Title Correction: People are idiots
Anyone who drives 1-2 hours per day knows how many absolute neanderthals are on THEIR PHONES while driving. Holding them at eye level SWIPING while driving 75 mph. I detest sharing the road with these aboslute lunatics who will only change their ways once they or someone else is horrifically injured or killed due to their disdainful behavior.
This is serious! Great reporting, these types of pieces can actually lead to important changes
I have a 2018 Chevy Volt, and I still move to the side of the road to get out of the way of emergency vehicles.
Ok time to create something in the car to detect and alert the driver of the presence of a fire truck, EMT or patrol car
No people have gotten dumber everyone’s looking at their phones now
They miss the part that traffic and road construction plays a gaint roll.
If only there was something you could and are supposed to glance at, that would let you be aware of what’s around you and would make it easier to notice vehicles flashing a couple of dozen strobe lights flashing away.
You could use something like the mirrors you have in your house, but we’d have to figure out a way to make them smaller.
Doesn’t seem like a good idea to be in a sound proof Car. You should always be able to hear what’s happening!
I don’t know. Falk ambulances are quiet even standing outside while Denver Health is loud. Also, Aurora Fire turns on their sirens too late. I saw engine 9 wait until they were at a red light to turn on their siren. I had my windows down that day.
So you are at a 4 way stop light its red for you and you are in the turn only lane. No cars are coming left or right, an emergency vehicle is behind you/ other cars behind you
If you “run the light” it can help the emergency vehicle through, do you do it ?
Emergency vehicles need a cow catcher on the front of the vehicle, like on a train, just push the vehicles out of the way.
People should be aware of their surroundings at all times when they’re driving, it doesn’t matter what kind of car they’re in.
This true.. happened to me even i not American.. probably the Siren need to be upgrade.?
When I’m driving a certain ultra luxury vehicle, I almost can’t hear any sirens, especially when I have soft music playing. It’s the flashing lights that get my attention every time. I’m always looking around frequently, especially the rear view mirrors to help me notice them though.
even if the noise isn’t loud enough, you should still be constantly looking around while driving.
if people won’t move, push them out of the way
Maybe car manufacturers can work with EMS to build some type of technology where it would be more easy to alert drivers.
One thing that first responders would take into account is that we motorcycle riders with helmets on can’t see or hear you if you’re coming directly from behind when we are wearing quality helmets and have properly adjusted and positioned mirrors. We have wind noise from the front and our mirrors are aimed at the lanes on either side and there’s no real way to see directly behind us. At a stop light or at lower speeds it’s different, we can hear a siren, but not at speed.
carcells are a plague
A solution for this is to have ALL cars have a feature where it detects an oncoming emergency vehicle. I know some cars have this but not all of them do
The problem is people who dont look at the rearview mirror unless they are backing up or switching lanes. One should be aware what’s behind them intermittently. Deaf drivers without hearing aids can move over. Blind drivers without assisted vision aids are not allowed to drive.
Improve transit and bike lanes
Isn’t this why the DMV handbook states to look in your rear view mirror and side mirrors periodically scanning throughout your commute????😂
We have the same problem here in Canada.
Always wondered why car manufacturers haven’t put in a device that listens to emergency sirens and then shows the driver an alert on the dashboard and/or LCD screen of an emergency vehicle nearby?
All these smart cars and technology, you’d think they could send out a signal to all the cars in front of them that flashes pull over on the cars screen.
Another thing to factor is bumper to bumper traffic and lights not turning green also.
So folks just be driving an never check their mirrors?? Smh this why I stay home
Guess they need to make sirens louder
So many stupid people on the road
I feel like nobody cares anymore! If you see a fire truck, EMS or police car you got to pull over to the right lane of the road near the median.
It’s a life or death situation for people that have to be rushed to the hospital or for someone that called the police for help!
The insulation in cars maybe too insulated for people to hear the sirens as well.
Maybe we need to put alerts in future vehicles to alert drivers of an emergency vehicle coming. I mean my God! All this technology in cars we have today, and we don’t have an alert system that there is an emergency vehicle coming! That definitely should be a new feature. Plus an alert for people to stop at stop signs or red lights. Because people run stop signs & stop lights, and cause an accident.
And alerts for people that go the wrong way on a freeway! I mean jeez! That’s all I have to say about that stuff.
These drivers are not aware of their surrounding that’s the problem. Get the auto makers to put something in the cars that can detect emergency vehicles.
Wow
I’ve seen where cars just sit at the red light and not move at all. Just go through the red light and move over. Once, after checking for cross traffic, I went through the red left turn light just to move out of the ambulance that was behind me so they didn’t have to jump the concrete center island.
WHY DIDNT THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION CREATE A EMERGENCY TRAFFIC LANE ONLY FOR EMERGENCY VEHICLES? MAYOR PETE IS NOT ON THE JOB AGAIN!!!! VP HARRIS WAS NOT AT HER POST THE MEXICAN BORDER AND ALL THE DEMOCRATS ON EARTH CANT PUT TRUMP BEHIND BARS! This is why everything is in CRISIS MODE!!!!
That is what mirrors are for! People are just not scanning where they are driving
eGPS. If an emergency vehical’s is coming your direction as indicated by a Emergency GPS alert system, then the cars speakers are turned on and into the siren noise and red flashing lights appear on the dash.
I don’t think any of these excuses/reasons are why. People just don’t care anymore. Empathy has been steadily decreasing in the past decade or more.
People just don’t care. Every day to work, I drive through 2 school zones. They are active, too, with lights flashing. 90% of cars don’t slow down, and less than that put on their blinkers. Just today, someone cut me off and proceeded to go at least 50 in what should be a 15 (at that time). I also pass 2 Fire Stations, and it’s a struggle for them to even break into traffic when needed. Fact of the matter is, more than ever, many people on the roads are self-indulgent psychos.
Knew I recognized that battalion chief! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59m8_RYF56g
Worse are people playing their music so loud their windows vibrate
My friend who was teaching me to drive to always look at your rearview like you have a stalker. After 27yrs of driving like this and cheap on the Ac, I can hear & see them a mile away at any direction.
Maybe it has to do with people on their phones while they are driving or sitting in traffic.
(Check your mirrors once and awhile… 🤷🏼♂️ 🤷♀️)
That’s why they need to stop all this crap in cars I mean a freaking tablet on the dash don’t need any of that crap
Always wondered why they can’t put fire hoses next to fire hydrants for citizens to use at areas where Fire Departments are too far away for them to get to get to in an emergency quickly
So explain to me why deaf people are allowed to have driving licenses? Oh that’s right, because you also have flashing lights!
Drivers just need to pay attention to their surroundings and/or not be selfish with the road.
Hate to break it to you, NBC, I was an EMT then Paramedic in LA from 1975 until 1990, it’s no different today than it is was then.
In NYC firetrucks often can’t get through secondary streets at all because of double-parked vehicles!
Well, in a car-centric society, there’s no answer to this. People will just have to die.
We should form a “Rettungsgasse” like they do in Germany.
Real life heros
WE NEED BUSSES AND TRAINS
90% of the time i see other cars pulling over before I hear emergency services.
If the issue really is that drivers can’t hear them as quickly because cars are better sealed, seems like a simple solution without sacrificing on a quieter ride would be to have the car detect the siren and notify the driver. With all the tech in modern cars, for some models it could probably be accomplished with a software update.
YOU EVER THINK, MAYBE DRIVERS FIND THE EMERGENCY VEHICLES AN INCONVENIENCE? People have places to go. Your siren is loud as sh*t.
A solution to this was proposed 30 years ago but car manufacturers never took it onboard
Its the drivers responsibility to pay attention to the traffic around them. They should see an emergency vehicle first
I see so many cars still crossing intersection even as emergeny vehicles are fast approaching. People just don’t give a dam or just oblivious of their surrondings 🤦♂️
This is nonsense. You are supposed to scan your mirrors and surroundings periodically when you’re driving. It’s not the modern cars, it’s the modern drivers.
Sad thing is people arent as attentive these days either it’s like tunnel vision driving.
It’s always the sirens in songs that get me 😂😂