On 11/30/2011 1:57 PM, Hell Toupee wrote:
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
I've never seen an OptiCom Emergency Vehicle Preemption system, but it
is interesting! However I don't think this is what the OP was referring
to. The "strobe" lights _on_ the red light that he describes is a red
light attention getter.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_th..._traffic_light
http://www.elliottequipment.com/barlo_strobe.htm