MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) is using a new tool to alert drivers as they say more and more drivers are failing to yield to sirens when they're responding to emergencies.
"A lot of people, I think, used to do a lot better job of moving over and yielding to emergency personnel. Lately, that's not the case," said Battalion Chief Tom Sells of the Milwaukee Fire Department.
Sells blames, not only the behavior of drivers but also the design of newer model vehicles.
"The newer vehicles tend to soften the sound, so you can't hear as well. Also, the fact that everyone's got their cell phone, which they're not supposed to utilize, they have the radio on loud and a lot of other distractions that we have to deal with," he said.
In a situation when every second counts, Sells said a blockade of cars in the way of fire trucks and ambulances could be the difference between life and death for a patient.
"For someone having a heart attack or somebody caught in a fire, those few seconds could be the difference," he said.
That's why the Milwaukee Fire Department is equipping more and more vehicles with rumbler sirens in addition to the sirens most of us would recognize.
It's a sound that you can both hear and feel when activated.
"The big difference, I guess from what I understand, is that it rumbles off the concrete more and the vibration allows you to be aware if something is behind me, or if something is in front of me and you can hear it a lot more effectively," said Sells.
Still, the new sirens are not going to be the ultimate fix.
"These new rumblers really do help, but from my experience people still are not moving over a lot," he said.
The Fire Department is pleading with drivers to yield, pull to the right side of the road, and let emergency crews pass safely.
"If it's your family member, you want them to get there quickly and safely to be able to do what they're trained to do," said Sells.
Sells also said that the fire department does have the ability to cite drivers who don't yield, an action he hopes they don't need to take more often.
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