Oklahoma to debut new ambulance siren you can feel

[sweetsam]

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- You're in the car and you've got the radio cranked up insanely loud. Chances are, you're not going to hear that ambulance siren wailing behind you.

Soon, even if you can't hear it, you'll be able to feel when an emergency vehicle is coming.

Oklahoma's largest ambulance company will become the first ambulance service in the nation to outfit its entire fleet with new Howler sirens, designed to emit low-frequency tones that penetrate objects within 200 feet - such as cars - to alert drivers.

The Emergency Medical Services Authority has equipped one ambulance with the new siren and plans to have them installed on all 77 units in Oklahoma within six months.

Officials say the sirens are ideal for cutting through a sea of traffic, and give emergency responders another tool to let drivers know an ambulance is heading their way.

Source

[C++]

I don't own a tinfoil hat but how healthy are these "object penetrating emissions", exactly?

[SoCalledChaos]

I don't own a tinfoil hat but how healthy are these "object penetrating emissions", exactly?

It would be like a Subwoofer.. Low Frequency.

[Barney T. Administrators]

Topic moved here

[Zilos]

Still won't work for those of us with the woofers pumpin lol, but I usually notice emergency vehicles anyways, since im usually paying attention to the traffic a ways ahead and behind me.

[+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹]

So what if you live in the 200ft radius, you would have to wait until the vehicle has moved 400ft before it subsides, not good :( I wouldn't want to be harassed by this at all if I was sitting peacefully at home browsing Pr0 .. erm Neowin.

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

I wonder what this could do to the people riding in the back, or even driving.... Feeling that all day long could suck

[MidnightDevil]

Probably is like sticking the head into a subwoofer... neat... it will shake everything lol

[ViZioN]

What's it like for the people in the ambulance? :p

[NienorGT]

It's like a big sub...

And it's supposed to be very directive, the low frequency waves aren't going in all way, just in the front.

What's it like for the people in the ambulance? :p

http://www.swps.com/whelen-howler.html

Built-in timer limits overexposure time to operator. Operators are advised to wear approved hearing protection.

I doubt it's gonna be silent for them :p

[Angel Blue01]

But don't most of the people who turn up the volume that loud already feel vibrations from the audio like bystanders do?

[AudioDope]

Soon the police will get this all over Canada/US

[sweetsam]

I am guessing its something like what you see in the movie "The incredible Hulk" just not that intense :p

[Pupik]

How loud is that "insanely loud" they're talking about, and how many people actually drive like that?

I can't imagine you can not hear the current sirens, in ANY situation on the road.

[primexx]

they could have just broadcasted radio jamming signals

[gigapixels Veteran]

Sound good to me (Y)

they could have just broadcasted radio jamming signals

Many people listen to their CDs or iPods while driving.

[jwjw1]

they could have just broadcasted radio jamming signals

or just fire off a 'guided missle' :rolleyes:

[DELTETHISACCOUNT]

Let's not doubt this. I'm thinking this is one of those things you have to see in order to believe.

Like the light bulb.

[JohnMarsten]

I don't own a tinfoil hat

You could make your own, all it takes is tinfoil :)

[redvamp128]

I can actually see this as a problem-- For example an elderly person driving and then feels the sounds and runs off the road.

[primexx]

Sound good to me (Y)

Many people listen to their CDs or iPods while driving.

oops forgot about that

[aussiefloyd_fan]

It would be like a Subwoofer.. Low Frequency.

what if you have your stero crakned up with a sub woofer going?

[Nagisan]

Many people listen to their CDs or iPods while driving.

In California, you can't drive with headphones on per Vehicle Code section 27400:

A person operating a motor vehicle or bicycle may not wear a headset covering, or earplus in, both ears. The doesn't apply to emergency vehicles, a person engaged in construction equipment for highway maintenance, a garbage collector, noise attenuators, or prosthetic devices to help the hard of hearing.

May hold true for other states, but in CA, there is NO reason you wouldnt be able to hear an emergency vehicle unless your driving illegally by covering both ears.

[shockz]

These things annoy the **** out of me. One of the cities i drive in uses these. It's just as rude as some one with loud subs driving by.

And in my experience its more than 200 feet.

Thanks stupid drivers for making them use this.

[Mr. Black]

This actually isn't new technology, Federal Signal (one of the Siren makers) has a product named Rumbler that does the same thing.

I was behind a Fire department SUV here in AZ with one of those, and you can feel it. It certainly gets your attention.