An extremely interesting project is underway in Sweden at the moment, it is selling the role of creating more safety for the ambulances that are on mission. More precisely, the Swedes are testing a system that would stop the music in citizens' cars when an ambulance approaches their car, so that they are aware of its existence.
The system is designed to work via FM and RDS, so that when an ambulance approaches the car, the drivers will be notified via its audio system. The system is designed to warn drivers when the ambulance is at a greater distance if they are driving on the highway, and that way they will know to give priority to the ambulance.
The car's audio system will play a message when the ambulance is near us, and the music will be interrupted regardless of whether we are listening to music on the radio, CD, DVD, Bluetooth, etc. Warning drivers ahead of time about meeting an ambulance on a mission will certainly reduce accidents and could even reduce response times to requests.
Many people listen to the radio or music in the car, and ambulances can be difficult to hear if they approach from an area where sound is difficult to propagate. The problem, however, lies in the use of acoustic signals ahead of time, and this is because in Romania ambulance drivers have the habit of turning them on only when approaching intersections, and sometimes this does not provide enough reaction time for the drivers.
"In Stockholm, ambulances will soon be piloting a system that interrupts whatever you're listening to - be it CDs, Bluetooth or the radio - and broadcasts a voice warning that an emergency vehicle is heading your way. The signal is sent over the FM band along with the transmission of a text message that appears in the tuner display."
If the pilot project in Sweden is successful, then it could be applied in other countries as well.
