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Stop on red, go on...white? Safety signal may confuse motorists
A citizen's complaint has raised concern about special devices designed to help emergency vehicles avoid congestion at traffic lights while they are responding to calls.During a public safety committee meeting last week, Center District Supervisor Terry Nyhous said there has been a recent complaint about the allegedly unsafe driving of a Warrenton fire truck.
He indicated that he and Lee District Supervisor Chester Stribling have since asked Sam Tarr — a member of the Warrenton Town Council and a former firefighter — to investigate the incident and recommend methods to improve safety.
No specifics about the incident were given at the meeting, and Tarr declined to comment until his investigation and report are completed.
However, Nyhous said this week that the complaint allowed county officials to identify what he calls a "safety vulnerability" that applies throughout the county.
"In the past, when I was driving and heard a siren, I got to the side of the road as quickly as possible. When I was at an intersection, I froze so the emergency vehicle could find its way around me. But OptiCom has changed all of that."
Opticom devices are installed in emergency vehicles and on traffic signals. Transmitters or emitters on ambulances and fire trucks send a signal that turns lights from red to green so the intersection will be clear by the time the ambulance or fire truck gets there.
"[OptiCom] lets us get through the intersection safely. We know we won't have to stop in traffic or go into other lanes [to avoid congestion]," said Steve Ross, a master technician with Warrenton Volunteer Fire Department.
Opticom receivers on traffic signals can be triggered from specially equipped vehicles as long as there is a "line of sight" of approximately 1,200 feet.
Two white floodlights positioned next to or above the traffic light start shining when OptiCom is triggered by an emergency vehicle approaching the intersection from the same direction. If the light is red it will shortly turn green.
The steady beam of the floodlights is the motorists' cue to proceed to a point where they can safely get to the right and give emergency vehicles enough room to get through the intersection.
Who has OptiCom?
Currently, Warrenton's fire and rescue vehicles are the only ones equipped with OptiCom emitters, according to Department of Fire and Emergency Services Chief Philip Myer. It costs about $1,000 to equip each vehicle with the device.
Six intersections within Warrenton town limits are equipped with OptiCom receivers.
Bo Tucker, director of the town's Department of Public Works, said the first receiver was installed three years ago. The rest were installed in conjunction with a signal synchronization project last year.
It cost approximately $7,000 to equip each light with a receiver. The total cost was about $45,000 Tucker said.
Myer said the so-called college light at West Shirley Avenue and U.S. 29 and the traffic signal at the intersection of East Shirley Avenue and Alwington Boulevard are also equipped with OptiCom.
The county also has an agreement with VDOT which will eventually outfit all intersections with OptiCom.
Nyhous wants everyone to be prepared when that happens.
"We want to make sure that every fire station has the same procedures and training," he said.
E-mail the reporter: abogdanovic@timespapers.com
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