The Challenge of Modern Driving for First Responders
POV: You’re a Fire Fighter, assigned to Engine Company 3. You are operating a 20-ton Engine with 1,000 gallons of water. It is rush hour, and the 3-alarm fire you are responding to is on the other side of the downtown area. You know that you are not only going to see motorists on the road, who just want to get home as fast as they can, but also other engine and ladder companies heading to the same place you are. Your officer is helping you navigate your lefts and rights, but it is up to you to operate the vehicle safely so you can get to the emergency and provide aid. As you approach an intersection, you take your eyes off the roadway for what seems like a split second. When you look up, a pedestrian has started to cross the street. You don’t know if you now have enough time to stop…
In a world of screens constantly pointed at our face, distracted driving had become a leading cause of motor vehicle collisions on any kind of roadway. When responding to an emergency, taking the attention of first responders off the roadway ahead is a disaster waiting to strike. Any First Responder, whether fire, police, or EMS, will tell you responding to a call is one of the most hazardous things they do. While we can never guarantee safety, we can mitigate hazards which are predictable and preventable before ever even leaving the station.
How STROBECOM II™ Enhances Road Safety for First Responders
TOMAR’s STROBECOM II Optical Traffic Preemption System is a 21st Century approach to requesting green lights and simultaneously helps First Responders stay focused on driving safely. Using TOMAR’s patented Integrated Confirmation™ system, STROBECOM II not only provides real-time visual feedback of preemption recognition at intersections, but this feedback comes from the direction operators of emergency vehicles should be looking – the road ahead. Keeping focus on the road is crucial in safely operating any type of vehicle and is even more important as speed and stress increases like when responding.
On the back end of the system, traffic engineers will appreciate the fact that Integrated Confirmation™ requires no additional wire-runs or power supplies, an exclusive in this industry. The LED confirmation light is integrated into the system, as its name suggests. To vehicle operators, this adds valuable insight that not only is the vehicle emitter detected by the intersection, but also that the whole preemption system is operating properly. No other system, whether it is another confirmation light brand, GPS, or other type of ‘smart city’ device, offers this kind of confidence - from right where the driver is looking.
Drive safely. STROBECOM II is one of the key components of TOMAR’s Envelope of Safety, and one more way we help create safer communities.
