Problem: Emergency Response Vehicles en route to an incident are often hindered and/or endangered due to non-emergency vehicles failure to respond to their lights and sirens in a timely, responsible, and lawful manner.

This is due to a number of factors that don’t need to be expounded upon, but all fall into two categories: illegitimate and legitimate. Most bogus reasons are the result of either preoccupation with something they shouldn’t be doing while driving, or general inattentiveness. Studies and experience has shown that even responsible, attentive drivers who are on cross streets and approaching intersection of an ERV’s travel, cannot hear the sirens or see the lights nearly as well as those directly in front or behind the ERVs.

There will always be bad drivers. There will always be cross streets and intersections. A system needs to be developed to compensate for these factors, rather than try to change them.

Solution: Emergency Response Identification Apparatus (ERIA) is a warning system that automatically alerts drivers to ERVs approaching their area within 30-45 seconds, allowing motorists to make necessary adjustments in their driving, pull over to the right, and wait for ERVs to pass before resuming driving. This system could also be utilized to alert motorists of serious road hazards ahead prior to traffic control personnel arriving on scene.

How it might work. Upon ERVs being dispatched to an incident, a GPS would coordinate the locations of the various ERVs responding, i.e., fire, ambulance, law enforcement and the address of the incident. Then a signal via satellite would be transmitted to a receiver in all the vehicles in the route being taken by the ERVs. The signal, once received, would interface with the electrical system of the vehicle, causing the interior lights to flash or blink in a slow steady rhythm and activate the vehicles radio/stereo system with a prerecorded automated message. The message might say: “Attention! Emergency Response Personnel are approaching your area soon. Please, when safe, pull your vehicle over to the right and stop your vehicle as soon as possible; if you cannot pull to the right, stop where you are. Do not stop in an intersection or on railroad tracks. Once the Emergency Response Personnel have passed, and it is safe, you may resume driving. Thank you.” The system would have a failsafe backup. In addition to the GPS, when the appropriate lights and sirens are activated on an ERV, a shortwave radio signal with a range of approximately 1/3 mile @ 180 degrees, would be transmitted directly from the ERV to the vehicles along the path it travels, with the same results as mentioned previously. This would ensure that if there were satellite problems, the system would rely on good old radio waves.

Imagine, being warned well in advance before you look up in your rear-view mirror and see a fire engine, ambulance, or law enforcement vehicle breathing down your neck. Imagine drivers not being thrown into a panic, accidents being avoided, and Emergency Response Vehicles making it to the incidents in a safer and timelier fashion. Imagine.

Skills: Other, Other, Other