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Sirens drivers can actually feel arrive in state
Posted: July 29, 2009 at 10:38 a.m.
Updated: July 29, 2009 at 5:18 p.m.
LITTLE ROCK — Drivers may be feeling as well as hearing emergency vehicles approach in Little Rock, as police and fire officials add low-frequency sirens that can be heard even inside nearly soundproof vehicles.
The basso bellow of the new siren supplements the regular one, and will be used at intersections where oncoming cars can be harder to see. They can be distinguished from loud car subwoofers because there's no confusing the siren with music.
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New type of emergency vehicle siren.
"To me, it sounds like a big tornado siren," Bryan Ritter said Wednesday. Ritter is director of operations for Fleet Safety Equipment Inc., which is installing the sirens on 34 new Little Rock patrol cars.
The fire department has the sirens installed on four battalion chiefs' SUVs that are used to lead the way to a call, clearing intersections and perhaps saving seconds on response time. Police will use the low-tone sirens when in pursuit or when rushing to a crime scene, spokesman Terry Hastings said.
The low-tone sirens, which cost about $400, have been added to the flashing lights package for new police cruisers. Older police cars likely won't be outfitted, though fire officials said they plan to equip fire engines now on hand.
Hastings said that because a patrol car's dashboard video is turned on whenever lights and siren are in use, it will be easy to track how effective the low-tone sirens are.
"Hopefully this will penetrate in the car. They will know we are approaching and can get out of the way quicker," Hastings said.
The low-tone sirens aren't new to the market, but many departments are still making their first purchases. The ones being used in Little Rock are made by Whelen Engineering Co. of Chester, Conn. University Park, Ill.-based Federal Signal Corp. makes the Rumbler.
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