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> Noticing and responding to emergency sounds/signals in the road… How do deaf drivers respond to sirens from emergency vehicles?

seizethecheese 3y ago
Flashing lights
- hattmall 3y ago
  The big one too is noticing everyone else slow down so you start trying to figure out why and look around more.
  - NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
    Quite a while ago, I learned the best way to follow the ball or puck at a sporting match. You don't try to look for the little object itself, you just observe what all the relevant players are doing, where they're looking, where they're running. You figure it out really quick with them helping! Likewise, if I am waiting for a bus or something, I am really alert and on guard if I'm alone at the stop, because that bus will blow right by. Once there are a few other passengers around, I kick back and just watch them, because unless they're all impatient and pacing, their attitude and behavior will indicate when the bus is visibly arriving. SDCs that coldly and analytically examine the traffic around them will probably never get the human nuances that we can pick up from second-and-third-order clues. For example, if I'm paranoid about whether a car's going to turn into me in an intersection, I don't watch their turn signal or lateral motion, I watch their front tire, because that's the first indicator of a turn. Is that sort of thing baked into AI? If several people are stopped at an intersection, eye contact and gestures are often essential in negotiating a solution. AI? Same with pedestrians. Make eye contact, signal, work something out. I'll often stop on a corner and wave cars through rather than insist on my right-of-way. Of course the motorist also has to decide if that's safe to do, and sometimes you can fool a motorist into making an unsafe move just by signaling your permission...
- reustle 3y ago
  There are many instances in dense cities where the streets are too tight between buildings or busy with buses and cars to see down the other road at an intersection. Japan gets around this by having ambulances at least slow down and look both ways for each red light they are driving through. Doesn’t seem like a huge ask.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Emergency vehicles here do the same thing, but there’s a human element that may be hard to implement- the drivers assume that a vehicle has “seen” them if it stops. But an automatic car (and some drivered cars, too) will then start up again and drive into the side of the truck. But the biggest reason they slow down is that if two emergency vehicles are responding from different roads - they can hit each other - so much so there are multiple examples of it on YouTube. That’s why they switch sound approaching an intersection and slow down. It actually helps them if there are cars stopped at the cross streets, running interference.
el_benhameen 3y ago
Rumbler sirens can be felt, in addition to the tonal difference: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumbler_siren https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumbler_siren
zarzavat 3y ago
Most drivers aren’t deaf, and many people who are hard of hearing can at least hear a siren approaching. If all drivers were completely deaf it would indeed be a problem.
BenjiWiebe 3y ago
Speaking as someone who drives emergency vehicles with flashing lights and sirens - it's amazing how many people presumably with average hearing and average vision cannot see a fire truck until it's been tailing them for a while.
- bombcar 3y ago
  You’ve not been a city long if you haven’t seen an emergency vehicle have to get on the PA to start yelling at a vehicle in person.
- JackMorgan 3y ago
  As a frequent lights and sirens passenger I'm convinced that they cause such a huge adrenaline spike that surrounding drivers act completely irrationally. Drivers will see us and then slam on the gas to dart in front or sometimes just stop in front of us. So many close calls where our engine almost gets hit by a human driver who seems completely committed to hitting us. Or we'll be turning onto a street (sometimes we have to swing wide to take a tight corner) and there will be a driver trying to squeeze by and making the same turn as us.
  - Gabrys1 3y ago
    If you're in the US, please pass feedback to whomever it makes sense that the signals are just too loud to the point of being dangerous. Thank you :-) (I get the impression these are just a tad quieter in Europe)

seizethecheese 3y ago

Flashing lights

hattmall 3y ago
The big one too is noticing everyone else slow down so you start trying to figure out why and look around more.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
  Quite a while ago, I learned the best way to follow the ball or puck at a sporting match. You don't try to look for the little object itself, you just observe what all the relevant players are doing, where they're looking, where they're running. You figure it out really quick with them helping! Likewise, if I am waiting for a bus or something, I am really alert and on guard if I'm alone at the stop, because that bus will blow right by. Once there are a few other passengers around, I kick back and just watch them, because unless they're all impatient and pacing, their attitude and behavior will indicate when the bus is visibly arriving. SDCs that coldly and analytically examine the traffic around them will probably never get the human nuances that we can pick up from second-and-third-order clues. For example, if I'm paranoid about whether a car's going to turn into me in an intersection, I don't watch their turn signal or lateral motion, I watch their front tire, because that's the first indicator of a turn. Is that sort of thing baked into AI? If several people are stopped at an intersection, eye contact and gestures are often essential in negotiating a solution. AI? Same with pedestrians. Make eye contact, signal, work something out. I'll often stop on a corner and wave cars through rather than insist on my right-of-way. Of course the motorist also has to decide if that's safe to do, and sometimes you can fool a motorist into making an unsafe move just by signaling your permission...
reustle 3y ago
There are many instances in dense cities where the streets are too tight between buildings or busy with buses and cars to see down the other road at an intersection. Japan gets around this by having ambulances at least slow down and look both ways for each red light they are driving through. Doesn’t seem like a huge ask.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Emergency vehicles here do the same thing, but there’s a human element that may be hard to implement- the drivers assume that a vehicle has “seen” them if it stops. But an automatic car (and some drivered cars, too) will then start up again and drive into the side of the truck. But the biggest reason they slow down is that if two emergency vehicles are responding from different roads - they can hit each other - so much so there are multiple examples of it on YouTube. That’s why they switch sound approaching an intersection and slow down. It actually helps them if there are cars stopped at the cross streets, running interference.

el_benhameen 3y ago

Rumbler sirens can be felt, in addition to the tonal difference: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumbler_siren https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumbler_siren

zarzavat 3y ago

Most drivers aren’t deaf, and many people who are hard of hearing can at least hear a siren approaching. If all drivers were completely deaf it would indeed be a problem.

BenjiWiebe 3y ago

Speaking as someone who drives emergency vehicles with flashing lights and sirens - it's amazing how many people presumably with average hearing and average vision cannot see a fire truck until it's been tailing them for a while.

bombcar 3y ago
You’ve not been a city long if you haven’t seen an emergency vehicle have to get on the PA to start yelling at a vehicle in person.
JackMorgan 3y ago
As a frequent lights and sirens passenger I'm convinced that they cause such a huge adrenaline spike that surrounding drivers act completely irrationally. Drivers will see us and then slam on the gas to dart in front or sometimes just stop in front of us. So many close calls where our engine almost gets hit by a human driver who seems completely committed to hitting us. Or we'll be turning onto a street (sometimes we have to swing wide to take a tight corner) and there will be a driver trying to squeeze by and making the same turn as us.
- Gabrys1 3y ago
  If you're in the US, please pass feedback to whomever it makes sense that the signals are just too loud to the point of being dangerous. Thank you :-) (I get the impression these are just a tad quieter in Europe)