Monrovia (California) Chief of Police Joe Santoro addressed the city council with this vital information: “When responding to emergencies with red lights and sirens, emergency vehicles present a serious traffic hazard to themselves and other vehicle and pedestrians while passing through traffic through an intersection. Confusion, inattention, mobile phones, car radios, hearing impairment, distracting children and failure to hear sirens and see flashing lights are just a few of the many causes of serious accidents that result in multi-million dollar lawsuits against cities and states.”
Santoro also said that in the US alone, more than 156,000 accidents involving emergency vehicles occurred at intersections from the early 1980s to 1995, resulting in 6,550 deaths.
|
|
| Vehicle warning lights can play an important part in preventing traffic accidents |
National Safety Board statistics show that 40% of firefighters killed in the line of duty died in accidents on the way to an incident. The majority of these accidents are at intersections.
In 1997, Santoro reported, more than 15,000 accidents with emergency vehicles responding to emergency calls occurred in the United States, resulting in 8,000 injuries, 500 fatalities and millions of dollars in liability claims and vehicle repairs.1
The ability of another driver to detect and safely avoid an approaching emergency vehicle is crucial to collision prevention. Emergency vehicles are specially marked and equipped with audible and visible warning devices to assist them as they negotiate traffic. Intersections pose the greatest danger – in fact, emergency vehicles are more likely to be struck by another vehicle than vice versa.2
Don’t become one of these statistics. Whether you select LED, strobe or halogen as your warning light of choice, make sure that your vehicle is well equipped! They are an incredibly important part of the life-saving/responder equation. With brilliant warning power, you can save your own life as well as those around you and save your municipality millions of dollars in potential legal issues. LEDs are the perfect answer for when you want to save lives and save money.
