County sailor, California (KGO) – In North Bay, Marin County fire agencies activate new technologies to alert drivers to the approach to emergency vehicles, or an accident to come.
Fire managers say that head -up alerts are designed to ensure the safety of drivers and first stakeholders after a growing number of collisions nationwide.
Many drivers know the slogan: pull right for sirens and lights. But firefighters say that everyone does not do so in a real urgency.
“Some of these vehicles, they are super isolated, difficult to hear the environment outside,” said Southern Marin firefighter Brian Natsios.
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When lights and sirens do not work, the new technology called “security cloud” could alert drivers to slow down or stop.
The technology, has done my Haas alerts in Chicago, sends alerts to nearby drivers that use smartphone applications like Waze and Apple Maps, and even newer vehicle navigation systems. The digital signal is transmitted automatically from fire trucks on the way.
“We answer a call, launch the platform, we press the master button for the lights – the whole system will start to alert vehicles on the road,” said Natsios.
Southern Marin’s firefighters, Chris Tubbs, says that his department is the first in the Bay region to obtain new technology. But, he adds, it is not a new gadget. This is security.
“One of the things that have shown studies is that digital alert systems in fact reduce the risk of collisions up to 90%compared to our emergency lights alone,” said Tubbs.
In 2023, ABC7 News covered a Terrible crash at Walnut Creek. The driver of a Tesla was killed when they struck a firefighter from the County Costa county on the scene of an accident. Several firefighters were injured.
“Every three weeks, an emergency speaker is killed on one of our roads following a collision,” said Tubbs.
The chief said that the cost of activating safety cloud technology for 24 vehicles is about $ 1,200 and around $ 4,800 for annual subscription costs. The crews believe that it is well spent money if it saves lives.
“So getting a small notification on an emergency vehicle arrives, shooting right is really helping us in the future,” said Natsios.
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