On 11/30/2011 12:34 PM, Tony Miklos wrote:
On 11/30/2011 12:22 PM, Bill wrote:

What is the purpose of the flashing white strobe?


For drivers on the cross street who have their car stereos blasting and
can't hear the siren of the emergency vehicle. Hopefully they will slow
down to see what is up...


Can you cite any websites that say the strobe light has anything to do
with emergency vehicles? I've never heard of such a thing.

What, is it still the 1970s where you live? 3M company developed the
OptiCom Emergency Vehicle Preemption system at least thirty years ago
and its use has expanded throughout the United States (and probably
elsewhere) since then.

http://minneapolis.about.com/od/city...t/opticomp.htm

"If the white light is flashing it means that the emergency vehicle(s)
are approaching the intersection from a different direction than you
are. If you signal is green, it will soon change to red. Treat a
flashing white light as a red light. Pull safely to the side of the
road and stop. Unless you are in danger of being hit by the car
behind, in which case proceed through the intersection, but be
prepared to pull over and stop - the emergency vehicles are
approaching from another direction, but may be turning down the street
you are on.

If the white light is on but not flashing it means that the emergency
vehicle(s) is approaching the intersection on the same street that you
are on. The emergency vehicles are either in front of you, or behind
you. If the signal is red, it will change to green. Treat it as a red
light. Pull safely to the side of the road, stop, and wait until all
the emergency vehicles have passed. Unless you are in danger of being
hit by the car behind, in which case proceed through the intersection
then stop safely as soon as you can."

All about Opticom in layman's terms:
http://www.tcmfd.com/stuff/opticom.html