Actions for Traffic at Red Light?

adamNYC said:
Can you elaborate? How do you do this? Like I said, I would go crazy with different sirens for <15seconds and my crazy partner may sometimes use the PA with a firm voice "drive forward" sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. The less the amount of cars between the ambulance and the red light, the higher the success rate.
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Uhh. I don't know.

In my old hometown it was a PSA that came out. On a one lane ramp a car got rear ended by a fire engine going hot. The fire dept then took a page in the newspaper to say it's not as simple as stopping.
 
I oppose traffic. Or shut down the siren and usually the lights as well. Then when it turns green everything comes back on and I continue on my merry way.
 
adamNYC said:
The safest ways ive seen cars run lights to clear a path for you if it is obvious theres no traffic coming from the left and the intersection has few lanes

If theres a traffic cop directing traffic they will usually give priority to the ambulance which is always nice. I also love getting behind emergency vehicles because they will L&S too, and even undercover PD & Hatzolah POVs ive seen help out.
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None of that is safe. No cars should be pulling into an intersection against the light, and you best not force them too. The right thing, as has been said multiple times, is to just stop. Turn off your siren at the very least (I shut it all off because overly do gooding drivers will drive into the intersection when they see lights), and wait for the light to change. Not that hard. Using the PA system makes you look like an idiot too, do not do that.

adamNYC said:
Why doesn't NYC get opticoms!?
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Think about how many traffic lights there are in NYC, and how many vehicles. And that even if they had them, you're volly bus would probably not be able to get them.
 
adamNYC can't possibly be real ... between the How to Buff calls thread, this one, and now he's asking about kevlar vests ...
 
We have opticons, but sometimes I can't quite tell if they're fully working... sometimes I'll hit nothing but green lights, others on the same route will be practically all red. The most annoying is when you come to your stop while clearing the intersection, and then just as you begin to move forward the light changes to green, like why couldn't it do that 10 seconds earlier?? Lol (although truthfully I think only some of our main intersections have them)
 
Jim37F said:
We have opticons, but sometimes I can't quite tell if they're fully working... sometimes I'll hit nothing but green lights, others on the same route will be practically all red. The most annoying is when you come to your stop while clearing the intersection, and then just as you begin to move forward the light changes to green, like why couldn't it do that 10 seconds earlier?? Lol (although truthfully I think only some of our main intersections have them)
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I hate it when you stop, and begin clearing lanes and looking back and forth to make sure nobodies coming, then you look forward and up a little and the lights green, but you're still sitting there....
 
adamNYC said:
The safest ways ive seen cars run lights to clear a path for you if it is obvious theres no traffic coming from the left and the intersection has few lanes
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Are you for real dude? There is no safe way to run a red light. Theres a reason its illegal...
 
Jim37F said:
We have opticons, but sometimes I can't quite tell if they're fully working...
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Do they not have the confirmation lights on them?
 
Ours don't. They're integrated into the light package and go on when the truck is in drive with primaries activated. We have them on most major thorough ways and busier access roads. Makes a huge difference in good smooth driving when you have to go L&S. (Code 4 here)
 
Tigger said:
Do they not have the confirmation lights on them?
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Nope. I think one or two may, but the majority of them do not. I wish they all did because those made it so much easier in San Diego when I drove code.
 
WolfmanHarris said:
Ours don't. They're integrated into the light package and go on when the truck is in drive with primaries activated. We have them on most major thorough ways and busier access roads. Makes a huge difference in good smooth driving when you have to go L&S. (Code 4 here)
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I mean on the signals themselves. Most of them here have a white strobe on the intersection that comes on when you have "captured" the opticom.
 
Tigger said:
I mean on the signals themselves. Most of them here have a white strobe on the intersection that comes on when you have "captured" the opticom.
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I have never seen that so I'm going to say no, ours don't
 
DesertMedic66 said:
I have never seen that so I'm going to say no, ours don't
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Same here.

Do your opticons themselves produce any visual light themselves? Our older ones produce a bright, rapid flashing white light, while the newer ones don't produce any visual signal, at least not that I can see. I've been told (no sources to substantiate this) that the newer ones use a near infrared wavelength or something to that effect
 
Jim37F said:
Same here.

Do your opticons themselves produce any visual light themselves? Our older ones produce a bright, rapid flashing white light, while the newer ones don't produce any visual signal, at least not that I can see. I've been told (no sources to substantiate this) that the newer ones use a near infrared wavelength or something to that effect
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Honestly not sure. The only time I have really seen the lights is when the ambulance is parked on scene which turns off the opticom. I honestly couldn't tell you what lights are the opticom vs normal strobes on our units.
 
DesertMedic66 said:
I honestly couldn't tell you what lights are the opticom vs normal strobes on our units.
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I believe they're a white flashing strobe light. While in drive its on, while in park its not.
 
Also at around 2:10, excellent example of shutting down to not push any cars through the intersection.
 
Jim37F said:
Same here.

Do your opticons themselves produce any visual light themselves? Our older ones produce a bright, rapid flashing white light, while the newer ones don't produce any visual signal, at least not that I can see. I've been told (no sources to substantiate this) that the newer ones use a near infrared wavelength or something to that effect
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Our newer boxes have the IR ones, all the other units have the normal ones though.
 
exodus said:
Our newer boxes have the IR ones, all the other units have the normal ones though.
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I've never seen the new boxes light up. Bet they look pretty sweet.
 
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