Emergency Vehicle Sirens - why so quiet?

[MissChief]

I live on a rat run for ambulances. Not a main road but the hospital is only a mile or so away. The sirens don’t bother me. Then again I used to work at a hospital.

I'm just round the corner from the local A&E so sirens don't bother me but they're usually running just lights. Also they're trained to not run the siren on the way back to the hospital as it can someone freak out patients, the whole' the sirens are on, he's really in a hurry, it must be serious, am I dying?' and panic sets in which can increase blood pressure and heart rate.

 

[Dup]

They're damn loud when they pass me out running, ear piercing up close, but as said some cars must be too well insulated as I notice many don't react until the last moment.

People complaining should be told where to go and that be the end of it.

 

[lordrobs]

There is an ambulance station which feeds into my route into work and I've got to say that Norwich's ambulance drivers are really on it. Sirens on when needed, off when on an empty stretch of road with no junctions etc. No pulling up to gridlocked traffic with no where to go with the sirens still wailing. Can't fault any of them from what I've seen.

I was thinking the other day that Police sirens seem quieter these days but it could just be me. The lights are certainly much more noticeable than the pre-LED ones ever used to be!

 

[Lopéz]

In Austria they are unbearably loud, and yet drivers manage to completely ignore them.

 

[ttaskmaster]

I do wonder if all the different sounds of modern sirens are simply inferior to the old 2-tone...

 

[Rroff]

I do wonder if all the different sounds of modern sirens are simply inferior to the old 2-tone...

Certainly some of them catch the attention less than the good old siren. Changing up the tone periodically is a good idea though as people tend to notice a change in sound or light, etc. more than something constant.

I've seen multiple times lately though people pulling out of junctions into the path of an emergency vehicle which is fully lit up + siren then panic braking as they've obviously only just noticed it and people either pulling out of junctions into the path of an emergency vehicle obviously thinking it was their right to do so and/or pulling into space people have just made to let an emergency vehicle through!

 

[Agent_Smith357]

Your hearing may not be as good as you think it is.

 

[soundb0y]

People complaining about sirens need to get their heads checked.

However when I was in uni halls years back we were right on the main ambulance route and could hear them non stop 24 7. Bit of a shock to someone who'd never lived in a city before.

I definitely noticed they are a lot more sparing with them these days just giving little blasts when getting to traffic etc.

 

[Rroff]

Had a confusing one last night - caught up with an leapfrogging an ambulance which had its blue lights on but proceeding carefully, obviously for medical reasons, going quite fast on the straights but slowing right down for corners and a couple of times stopping at the side of the road entirely.

Was a bit confusing what to do when they'd catch up behind me again at lights, etc. as they still had the blue lights on but didn't seem to be in a hurry to get past. In the end I gave it a bit of a boot to get well clear ahead of them.

 

[Resident]

Had a confusing one last night - caught up with an leapfrogging an ambulance which had its blue lights on but proceeding carefully, obviously for medical reasons, going quite fast on the straights but slowing right down for corners and a couple of times stopping at the side of the road entirely.

Was a bit confusing what to do when they'd catch up behind me again at lights, etc. as they still had the blue lights on but didn't seem to be in a hurry to get past. In the end I gave it a bit of a boot to get well clear ahead of them.

It could have been a patient transport run with a High Dependancy patient on board, they're often transported using blue lights (sis-in-law works in HDU)

 

[Rroff]

It could have been a patient transport run with a High Dependancy patient on board, they're often transported using blue lights (sis-in-law works in HDU)

I assumed it was something like that - a bit of a difficult one to know how to react as they weren't exactly pushing through but obviously wanting to make progress as well. I guess they'd have probably blipped the siren or horn if they wanted to get around me but it was a bit difficult sometimes to know whether to yield or just keep going.

 

[fez]

They are loud enough that when I am walking I usually put my fingers in my ears as they go past. I can hear them perfectly well from a long way off in my car as well.

My favourite is when they creep up on me all silent when I am walking and then turn the siren on just as they go past. Swear they are going to be the death of me. Nearly gives me a heart attack every single time.

 

[sad099]

They are loud enough that when I am walking I usually put my fingers in my ears as they go past. I can hear them perfectly well from a long way off in my car as well.

My favourite is when they creep up on me all silent when I am walking and then turn the siren on just as they go past. Swear they are going to be the death of me. Nearly gives me a heart attack every single time.

well if they do at least you'll have medical attention on hand

 

[Basher]

Your hearing may not be as good as you think it is.

Pardon?

 

[fez]

well if they do at least you'll have medical attention on hand

It would be tragic because I wouldn't! They would be long gone by the time my raised arm and clawed fist finally fell. People would say "how ironic, there was an ambulance coming through a few minutes before he died" not knowing that they were the culprit!

 

[Gorbash12346]

I drive ambulances and response cars daily on blue light runs. Officially we are told that if we are moving with the blue lights on we should also have the sirens on. If we have an accident and don't have the sirens going too we are in a heap of trouble.
The reality is that we get as sick of the sound of them as much as the people who complain about them (including those who buy houses next to hospitals or ambulance stations, then complain about the sirens - sometimes threatening violence against us), so what tends to happen is that in times outside of rush hour we sometimes turn them off until we reach junctions, or slower moving traffic.
I don't think they are any quieter than they were, quite the opposite in fact, but as stated above modern vehicles are very well sound proofed.
Many times a day I approach a car or van (rarely a lorry or bus though) with lights and sirens going and the driver fails to notice me for quite some time, at which point they tend to brake hard and lurch to the left without even seeing what is to the left of them.
The reactions (or lack of) I get from other drivers shows a terrifying lack of awareness in many many cases.

I really enjoyed response driving at first, now I find it exhausting as driving standard are 100% deteriorating, with outright deliberate dangerous and selfish driving being seen from an increasing proportion of drivers.

Agreed on the driving standards.

Though I don't drive professionally I do about 20-25k miles a year of motorway commutes. One of the things I noticed years ago was when driving south on the M74/M6 (from Scotland) I'd reach Carlisle and find that all driving courtesy and road manners pretty much evaporated from then on. Though unfortunately I'd now say it's pretty much gone no matter where you are.
Maybe I'm just getting old but now I just assume that every other driver is an utter d*** who's more interested in playing with their phone than driving.

When it comes to other drivers I despair at the complete lack of awareness that some people have when an emergency vehicle approaches from behind. Inevitably they stand on the brakes and dive for the left side without looking or thinking perhaps if I wait a few seconds I can pull into the layby and not block the road so that the emergency vehicle can actually get past.