Has anyone noticed that the sirens of police, fire trucks and ambulances are different in NYC than other big cities?
New Yorkers may have developed an immunity to the blarring sirens constantly going off at all hours of the day, but that doesn’t mean they’ve become any less annoying. Some lawmakers have proposed that it’s about time to change the sounds of sirens to something that’s slightly less harsh on the ears? Studies have found that European sirens aren’t nearly as irritating as the ones in NYC and the difference lies in the alternating of high and low tones.
Strides have already been made as last year the Mount Sinai Health System tested out various siren sounds to locals from the Upper East Side. They ultimately switched to the same two-tone sirens in 25 ambulances that usually total to 100,000 trips per year. Obviously a siren is a siren, it’s supposed to be a loud noise to alert the public of an emergency, but there’s no harm in trying to reduce the piercing sound as much as possible.
For those that didn’t know, some fire trucks, ambulances and police cars have various siren options to choose from when a situation requires it…e.g. when they need to hit the accelerate or brake and cars/people are in the way. Although many people in the city are onboard with the change, some residents resistant to change believe the old-school siren is the way to go. No details on a potential vote have been announced, but if the proposal passes it would mean that all emergency vehicles need to change their sound within two years of enforcement.
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