Good point Q, -just like the top of your head.q2bman wrote:Robert ...If you kill the siren and can make a legal left turn why not just run non emergency all the time.
The siren blares everywhere disturbing people whom do NOT need to hear it.q2bman wrote:Seems that if you are in emergency mode you should be sounding the siren.
I am proceeding in my lane just like any other vehicle - they should discern that they cannot pull out in front of any vehicles in another lane.q2bman wrote:Someone pulling out in front of you would have looked left theN right and not observed your emergency lighting. A siren could serve as a last min. warning to the driver to stop. This could save a life, maybe even yours!
You are right, Jim.Jim_Ferer wrote:Robert, you go overboard with this quiet thing. Your only concern ought to be clearing the rode ahead and making certain people know you are there. Other considerations, like not bothering people, are of no importance by comparison.
I can't see the point here. Most of the time someone is pulled over, there isn't a siren continually blasting in 3 other lanes for the last 10 minutes plus a speeding cop car.robert gift wrote:When exiting interstates I may turn off the lights.
I always signal, move from lane one to lane two and lane three to off ramp.
When I get behind someone in the right lane, they begin to slow and even pull over.
I don't blame them. See my last post.robert gift wrote:I asked Colorado State Patrol if I can shut down on Interstates where the left lane is clear far ahead. They said no.
Robert... the main key to getting to an emergency is total driving time. Nobody wants to wait for an ambulance when they're having a heart attack! How would you like it if you were having a major heart attack and you later knew the driver was going less than 65 MPH on the freeway?robert gift wrote:I am proceeding in my lane just like any other vehicle - they should discern that they cannot pull out in front of any vehicles in another lane.
In traffic I slow anticipating such problems. Also I always try to have an escape route if someone does pull in front of me.
Again, I can't blame them.robert gift wrote:If an accident occurs while I'm running silent, opposing counsel would want to blame me, or assign a higher percentage if shared blame.
Yes, people can be listening to metal music while talking on the phone, but not everyone keeps a continuous scan of the surrounding 200 ft while driving either. And during the day, lights can even be less effective. (I'm unsure of what lights you use.)robert gift wrote:Our coordinated lights are extraodinarily effective at clearing traffic way ahead.
If I am in MY lane, which traffic has vacated, I do not sound the siren because I am like any other vehicle in it's lane.
You're forgetting one thing. Not everyone is a law-abiding citizen, and people going from right to left in your perspective could make u-turns and collide with you. On the other hand, if you had your siren on, people would know something's up and look for lights and plan accordingly.robert gift wrote:Last week when I came to a major intersection, cross-traffic had left green arrows.
Without even slowing cross-traffic, I silently made a right turn on red. The siren would likely have stopped all traffic movement and caused many to miss their turn.
Being silent also likely prevented vehicles on my street pulling right into the right turn lane which would have blocked my progress.
So there are situations where silence is beneficial.
I congratulate you on the Opticom aspect, and agree that less lights could be used in this situation, but you can't just turn off all lights or people would think that you're just parked there to check up on your family or go to the store. Emergency lights signal an emergency situation.robert gift wrote:Several weeks ago I called Aurora Fire dispatch about Engine 11 parked at an accident scene with all lights and Opticom on.
It exacerbated already congested rush-hour traffic by keeping a major intersection's traffic signal red in three directions. (Signals are supposed to "time out" and ignore a continuous Opticom "call", but this signal apparently did not drop the call.)
That's what I'm saying. I was going to the Georgia Aquarium last weekend (although they say it's the largest in the world, most of it is a huge cafeteria, a theater for a crappy 4D animation conveying an EPA message, and a huge central place containing benches and an excessively large gift shop) and on the way there we saw some generic cop cars hold up traffic for no reason whatsoever. I still think that they were just a bunch of troublemakers. When they pulled over to let people pass and get out and stretch in the median, we saw them - they wern't even in uniform! Suspiscious. Anyways, on the way back at around 9 PM we saw the same cars - all four - parked on both sides of the road (2 per side) with about 50ft space between the ones in the front and the ones in the back. All of them had their lightbars and strobe taillight and headlight flashers on full blast... they were just sitting there. Same spot, too. I identified the lightbars as these Whelen lightbars and they were all blue. After we passed, we heard a message on the radio that there had been two accidents on the highway we were on at the exit they were at. I'm really sure they were just making trouble.Jim_Ferer wrote:About stopped at a scene: Often scenes get seriously overlit and dazzling, but turning off all lights is not the answer. The answers, if there are any, are different light modes for stopped at scene vehicles, turning off some lights (if there's a dozen units at a scene, do all 12 have to have all lights on?), things like that. Going dark is dangerous and irresponsible. This is an area where some experimentation is in order. One idea I'd be curious to try would be lights (always LED) larger in area but not as intense.
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