balidey
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 11:07 AM |
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Are new Police sirens crap ?
Yesterday on way home from work I saw the blue lights flashing in the rear view mirror from a long way off. (Not after me!) Eventually when the police
car got closer I could ony just hear the siren as its so feint that its hardly audible until the car is right behind you, then its eems to be bloody
loud instantly.
Surely the idea is they want to alert people as soon as possible and as far away as possible, not give the average road user a fright as they suddenly
hear the siren at the last minute and panic when its 5 feet behind you (why do people slam their brakes on when they hear a siren  )
Anyway, I know this is not a one-off, I've noticed it plenty of times before. Its not my hearing. Its not that the siren was only put on at the
last minute. Its like the sirens are just, well, crap until its a few feet away. Its like an LED light is pretty rubbish at givign out light, but
shine one in your eye and its very intense light. Its that sort of thing but with sound. If that makes sense.
Anyone else noticed it? And it only seems to be police sirens. Fire engines and ambulances don't seem to have suffered... yet.
Dutch bears have terrible skin due to their clogged paws
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speedyxjs
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 11:23 AM |
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TURN YOUR RADIO DOWN, YOU WILL HEAR IT BETTER 
Sorry couldnt resist
How long can i resist the temptation to drop a V8 in?
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carpmart
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 11:38 AM |
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I voted yes"!
You only live once - make the most of it!
Radical Clubsport, Kwaker motor
'94 MX5 MK1, 1.8
F10 M5 - 600bhp Daily Hack 
Range Rover Sport - Wife's Car
Mercedes A class - Son's Car
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BenB
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 11:48 AM |
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Not round here they're not. I used to live two streets away from the local nick and they put on the blues and twos at all hours of night, the
streets round here are deserted after 10pm. It's probably a "rule" but I couldn't understand the needs to wake up the entire
neighbourhood when driving down a deserted well lit street at 5am in the morning.
I do like the sirens which have the white noise burst in the middle of the sound. Helps with working out where they're coming from.
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adithorp
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 11:49 AM |
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I think (read somewhere) that they actually have different sirens for different things, each with a different set of frequencies. Some are best to
hear, like you were in direct line of sight, some carry better around corners so they switch to that near junctions, some are better to be heard by
pedestrians, etc. So it could well be they had the second one on because there were lots of junctions and rely on you seeing the lights more... Or it
could just be you've been using the angle grinder/hammer/etc too much!
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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MikeR
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 11:52 AM |
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Police / fire etc have two sirens, one is directional and good for people a distance away hearing you and getting out the way, the other isn't
and is great for junctions so everyone hears it but doesn't know where its coming from so slows down.
Maybe they had the 'junction' siren on and changed to the 'directional' siren as they got close.
(or possibly the health and safety police decided that the old sirens were too loud).
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balidey
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 12:14 PM |
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Ah, so its not the fault of the siren, its the fault of the police officer.
Seems a stupid system to me, if its possible to get 'surprised' by a police car right behind you then its not safe. I have been following
cars that have failed to notice the police car directly behind them because of this. Surely the safest thing is to take away possible ways to make
errors in the police duty, not add more choices to them when they are focused on driving.
Dutch bears have terrible skin due to their clogged paws
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Richard Quinn
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 12:50 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by balidey
if its possible to get 'surprised' by a police car right behind you then...
you're not checking your mirrors often enough
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balidey
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 01:22 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Richard Quinn
quote:
Originally posted by balidey
if its possible to get 'surprised' by a police car right behind you then...
you're not checking your mirrors often enough
I am. As said above I noticed the lights way before the siren. But other people I have noticed obvisouly don't. And there's my point. If
the sirens were the old, loud type, then it would have done its job and alerted the drivers.
Dutch bears have terrible skin due to their clogged paws
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T66
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 02:48 PM |
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cars have different sirens, not so much specially for different uses, but for those that havent driven blue lights, it is not an automated response by
putting them on, everyone hears them and sees the blue lights and safely moves aside. Probably the opposite...
I would suggest about 30-40% of drivers see and hear police cars coming, and safely let them past.
The rest tend not to look in their mirrors enough and subsequently get a fright when the noise is right behind them, the same folk in their fright
also tend to swerve and brake violently to get out of the way. Police drivers are trained to assume nobody has seen or heard them, and treat other
road users in that manner , most of the time this system works.
The different sirens/wailers are useful if stuck on a busy dual carriageway/motorway behind heavies etc , who have poor rear visibility and the radio
on....a change of tone is sometimes all its needed to catch their attention. Likewise at a junction, a quick change of siren on approaching it, and a
slow move into the junction before driving across it.
Hence the different types, no they are not to sneak up on you ! I have noticed that some of the driver training cars have relatively quiet sirens on
them, compared to real police cars, so maybe thats what you have come across .
More use of mirrors methinks , then next time you might not get a fright !
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scootz
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 06:34 PM |
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I remember a few years back they started to teach police drivers to switch off their lights / horns when approaching queuing traffic so as not to
'panic' the motorists into gridlock. Not sure how the drivers got on with it in real-world situations, but it looks really naff to the
passer-by when you see it in practice. Looks like they're just dicking around and causes even more indecision IMHO!
It's Evolution Baby!
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T66
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 08:58 PM |
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Probably a civvy driving instructor thought of that one Scott....
Sounds like a pap idea
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scootz
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 09:05 PM |
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You have Email Ivan!
It's Evolution Baby!
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T66
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 09:52 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by scootz
You have Email Ivan!
And I now have a flight booked !!
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 26/11/10 at 10:38 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by BenB
I do like the sirens which have the white noise burst in the middle of the sound. Helps with working out where they're coming from.
I thought they never brought them out. Heard they were trialling them in about 1996 and that was it
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