One of the leading causes of firefighters fatalities occurs while responding to an emergency. Your chances of being involved in a law suit are far greater for an incident involving driving, than improper or inappropriate actions at the emergency scene. As response times increase due to increased traffic and crowded road conditions the risk of a vehicle accident increases. Effective fire and medical emergency responses are dealt with not in minutes . . . Safer traffic flow and improved response times can make the difference between a crisis and a catastrophe.
Most drivers make a sincere effort to yield to the emergency vehicle.
However, during an emergency response, the traffic signal can actually work against fire and emergency medical vehicle. Opticom is a traffic priority control system that enables the emergency vehicle operator to temporarily command the signal sequence of the approaching intersection. The electronic impulse then interrupts the signal sequences and turns the signal to green in the direction of emergency vehicle. Civilian drivers then have the ability to safely enter the intersection clearing the way for the fire apparatus. To tell which intersections have Opticom and which don't look for the detector.