Hot take: ambulances should be quiet enough to not cause pedestrian hearing damage, and people who don't pull over and fully stop 100% should get their licenses suspended.

If one can't look out for ambulances, then they shouldn't be driving at all.

[–] Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 year ago

If memory serves the reason emergency vehicle sirens are getting so loud is because modern cars keep getting quieter inside due to sound dampening

I recently sat in a new car and I couldn't tell if it was on or not due to how quiet it was inside the car, outside it was easy to tell but inside it was quiet as a tomb

It wasn't even some fancy luxury car either

[–] ElmarsonTheThird@feddit.de -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So anytime an ambulance approaches, all traffic has to stop? What if they're just driving to the gas station? How do you know that the ambulance is on an emergency call?

Also: the siren is not just for everyone in front but also the next crossing over so everyone who doesn't see it yet can hear it.

[–] explodicle@local106.com 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sorry to be unclear, I meant while the top lights are on - not just getting gas. Hearing isn't a requirement for drivers, but sight is.

[–] xthexder@l.sw0.com 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I thought it was pretty obvious what you meant. Maybe if they thought about it for 2 seconds they'd realize we're only talking about active emergency vehicles.

[–] ElmarsonTheThird@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago

My point still stands about warning traffic that can't see the ambulance, obstructed by trucks or buildings.

[–] MrsDoyle@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

We had a test of the national emergency system here in the UK a couple of months back, a broadcast message via your phone. I knew it was coming so it wasn't a total shock, but a) I was driving, b) my phone is Bluetoothed to my hearing aids, and c) I was on holiday in north Wales, so the message was in Welsh. Nearly shat myself.

[–] son_named_bort@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Same with train horns. The gate going down tells me a train is coming, the horn can be overkill sometimes.

[–] Johnny5@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Sometimes gates don’t work….