With music playing, windows rolled up and inattentive drivers talking on cell phones, it might be hard to hear emergency vehicles.
But even with more careful drivers, accidents can happen.
Now, local communities have installed signals that literally help drivers see when emergency vehicles need to pass through intersections quickly.
The Emergency Vehicle Alert System warning lights soon will be installed at two intersections on Grosse Ile: Meridian and Grosse Ile Parkway and Macomb and Meridian.
Called an E-Light, the device will match traffic lights in color, meaning it will be boxed in yellow, Fire Chief Duncan Murdock said.
On each screen within the devices, a flashing fire truck will warn drivers just before emergency vehicles with activated lights enter the intersection.
"So, hopefully, this will give them a visual aid, allowing them to prepare for emergency vehicles coming through the intersection," Murdock said.
He said the township is working with Wayne State University, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Transportation and Livonia-based E-Light LLC on the project.
Murdock said he saw the lights in operation in Dearborn Heights, where they can be found at a few intersections, including Beech Daly and Warren.
"It's amazing how a four-way intersection comes to a complete halt when that light flashes," he said. "The residents have (had) a chance to get used to it out there and it really works."
Drivers of the emergency vehicles will use a switch inside the vehicles to activate the E-Lights as soon as they get into the vehicles. As they approach intersections where the E-Lights have been installed, the signals will activate.
For fire trucks and ambulances, the E-Lights will activate when the vehicles are 2,000 to 2,500 feet away, and they will be connected to the traffic lights.
For police cars and firfighters' personal vehicles that are registered with the state, the lights will be activated when they are 1,000 feet away from the intersection, independent of the traffic lights.
The signal will stop flashing after the vehicles have passed through.
Letters will go out to residents of Grosse Ile soon regarding the equipment.
Residents soon will see representatives of Wayne County and WSU transportation specialists doing some counting at the two intersections before the units are installed, Murdock said.
The testing will occur again after the installation to allow for a comparison of the traffic flow before and after the use of the E-Lights.
In all, five units will be installed on Grosse Ile. The cost of about $15,000 for the first two is coming out of the Fire Department's budget.
The Downriver Community Conference also has applied for a grant for two or three E-Lights for every one of the 19 communities in the consortium, which includes Grosse Ile.
The money for the final three signals for the island is expected to come from the grant, if it is approved.
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