By Carl J. Haddon

I recall a conversation I had with an emergency vehicle insurance underwriter. He told me that insurance premiums for “code 3 capable” emergency vehicles were derived (in part) from the “size of the imaginary target painted on the side of each vehicle.”

Fire apparatus, chief cars, ambulances, ambulance supervisor vehicles, quick-response units, and law enforcement vehicles are all certainly code 3 capable, or at least should be. Much has been written (including by this author) about emergency vehicle lighting and warning devices, reflective marking standards, etc. The debate still rages on about fire apparatus regarding electronic audible warning devices/sirens vs. old school wind-up mechanical sirens. Debate also continues around the world regarding the most effective siren sounds. For those of us who have been around the sun a few more times than others, we grew up in the fire service with the electronic options of wail, yelp, and Hi Lo, on our siren control boxes. Additionally, we had “real” air horns, and our trusty Federal Q mechanical sirens. Today’s new apparatus are spec’d with myriad new warning device technology that is designed to help us navigate safely through traffic and warn the motoring public of our approach during an emergency response. I like to think of the aforementioned vehicular warning devices as personal protective equipment (PPE) for our emergency vehicles.

Do we always wear all of our PPE and, more importantly, do we always wear our PPE correctly? NFPA standards, PPE manufacturers, and our department’s policies and procedures dictate the definition “wearing our PPE correctly.” In the same way, do we always use our vehicles’ emergency warning devices correctly during emergency responses? The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) sets the standard that most of us are supposed to use, but do we follow this standard? Do we even know what that standard is?

As I travel around the country working with rural and urban fire departments alike, I’m baffled by what seems to be a total inconsistency regarding emergency warning device usage from department to department and region to region. It seems as though most everyone uses warning lights according to established standards. This unfortunately is NOT the case when it comes to siren usage. Some operators use sirens sporadically, some don’t use them in unpopulated areas, some don’t use them during late night calls in residential areas. This list of places and circumstances where sirens aren’t used goes on and on. Before you go beating on me about this, know that I understand the reasoning and justification behind not wanting to use sirens when they don’t seem necessary. Seems like the use of common sense should prevail over this matter, right? 

If the front end of a vehicle collides with the rear end of the vehicle in front of it, can you think of any legal circumstance where the driver of the rear vehicle would not be at fault? There really isn’t one. Cutting to the heart of the matter, the same type of circumstance holds true for an emergency vehicle. USDOT standards say (paraphrasing) that when you respond to an emergency call wherein code 3 operation is called for, ALL emergency warning lights and sirens must be activated at all times. If you are on an emergency response, and you are NOT using lights AND sirens and you are involved in an accident, you will likely be held liable and possibly found at fault.

Again, I understand that there are