# Hear sirens, stuck in traffic - what to do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2006, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-sirens-stuck-in-traffic-what-to-do/348578 "2006-03-16T06:39:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-sirens-stuck-in-traffic-what-to-do/348578/21 "2006-03-17T01:38:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Yeah, it’s great when it works, though. I’d bet the engineer was outrunning his Opticom on that crash. I can tell you’ve never driven in Rhode Island. From the unofficial RI driver’s manual: Green = Stop for the people running the red Yellow = Go faster than so you can beat the red Red = Go You get used to it after a while, but every so often, someone catches you by surprise. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-sirens-stuck-in-traffic-what-to-do/348578/22 "2006-03-17T10:36:46Z")
On a side note some traffic lights in the U.K. have sensors attached to them that detect the flashing lights of an emergency vehicle and will change in order to let the emergency vehicle through. The upshot of this is that if you are sat at a red light at a junction and no traffic is passing through the green lights you can flash your car headlights and the lights will change for you. I can’t find a definitive online cite for this but my source is the father of one of my friends who has been in the police force for a very long time and used the technique when driving an unmarked car. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-sirens-stuck-in-traffic-what-to-do/348578/23 "2006-03-17T10:52:37Z")
Couple of months back, there was a collision between a Portland Fire Dept. Truck and a light rail train, seems that both were equipped to change the traffic signal and that contributed to the accident. I haven’t heard a follow-up on the specific problem. I think they use transponder technology, rather than headlights. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-sirens-stuck-in-traffic-what-to-do/348578/24 "2006-03-17T14:39:17Z")
> [@St. Urho](#): > > And for god’s sake **DON’T RUN THE RED LIGHT!!!** We’re only allowed to proceed through after stopping and make sure it’s clear. You are not allowed to go through until it turns green. If we can’t get through the light, we’ll wait, and so should you. I’ll shut down the siren and all the lights and wait for the Opticom to do its thing. > > St. Urho > Paramedic An Opticom? Sweet. Does your ambulance turn into a robot? Seriously, I have actually pulled over to the left to clear a path in the past. Many, many roads in Albuquerque are two or three lanes each way with physical medians with cutouts for left-hand turns in the middle of the street. I heard the sirens, saw that my path to the right was blocked by traffic, and got into one of the cutouts to wait for the ambulance to come past. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-sirens-stuck-in-traffic-what-to-do/348578/25 "2006-03-17T17:41:23Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > An Opticom? Sweet. Does your ambulance turn into a robot? Nah, only the ones with the Opticom Prime turn into robots. **mittu** - Cite? I don’t believe it. I’ve heard tons of people say they could trigger the Opticom by flashing their lights, but it’s not possible to both flash your lights fast enough and match the encoded flash pattern. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-sirens-stuck-in-traffic-what-to-do/348578/26 "2006-03-17T18:19:22Z")
> [@mittu](#): > > On a side note some traffic lights in the U.K. have sensors attached to them that detect the flashing lights of an emergency vehicle and will change in order to let the emergency vehicle through. The upshot of this is that if you are sat at a red light at a junction and no traffic is passing through the green lights you can flash your car headlights and the lights will change for you. I can’t find a definitive online cite for this but my source is the father of one of my friends who has been in the police force for a very long time and used the technique when driving an unmarked car. [Here’s your cite. Only not the way you wanted it…](http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/strobe.asp) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hear-sirens-stuck-in-traffic-what-to-do/348578.md?page=1)