Emergency Vehicles By Brenda Williams At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Are you the kind of driver who drives around with the music blasting so loud that your passengers are often afraid that your windows might actually shatter? Well, besides being rude, there is another reason that you should turn the stereo system down and that is so that you can hear emergency vehicles approaching.

As a police officer, I remember being dispatched an emergency call that was extremely time sensitive. I threw on my lights and siren and headed down a main thoroughfare. As I did so, everyone immediately got out of the way to allow me through...except for one person. I had another officer behind me, and we both had our lights and sirens on, which indicated that there was an emergency. However, this one individual didn't seem to notice us- and it turned out that this was because he had his stereo system blasting so loudly that I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have noticed if a spaceship landed behind him.

Eventually, I went around him; but the other officer who was behind me was so annoyed with this driver, that he actually pulled him over and gave him a ticket before meeting the rest of us at the scene minutes later. Also, I should mention that the other drivers on the road were honking at this individual as well, trying to get his attention!

When you are in your car driving, it's ok to listen to your music loudly if you want to, as long as a) it is not so loud that it disturbs the persons on either side of your vehicle, and b) it is not so loud that you cannot hear if there is an emergency vehicle approaching. If your vehicle is shaking because you have the music turned up so loud, or if you turn the music up so loud that you literally cannot hear yourself or someone else in your vehicle talk while yelling, then it is too loud. In most states, there are motor vehicle laws regarding acceptable levels for car stereos. In most states, if your car stereo can be heard from a certain number of feet away (I.e. one car length), then you can be fined for it.

One way to tell if your music is too loud is to perform the following test. Turn the music on in your vehicle and then proceed to get out of your car. Shut the door to your car (being careful not to lock yourself out) and see how well you can hear the music outside of your car. If you would like, have a friend participate and help you out by acting as the passenger in your car. As you stand outside of your vehicle with the doors and windows closed, indicate to your friend to turn the music up. Have them keep turning the music up until you can hear it outside of the car. Make a note of what level the music was on inside of the vehicle for it to be heard outside of your car. Now perform the same test with the windows rolled down.

Drivers need to be considerate of other drivers, especially emergency vehicles. If you are too preoccupied in your car with loud music to notice an emergency vehicle and you wind up getting in the way or blocking the path of an emergency vehicle that is trying to get through, you could actually risk not only being fined- but you could be arrested for interfering with an emergency response by a government official.

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