Ask the driver of any emergency response vehicle what their greatest frustration is and the answer will be; "They just won't get out of my way!". Given today's vehicles which feature sound proofing, 8 speaker 100 watt factory sound systems, high volume air conditioning fans, cell phones, etc., it is no wonder that drivers won't get out of the way of what they cannot hear. The first problem this presents is unnecessarily long response times. The secondary result is needless traffic accidents, and even deaths, involving our emergency response vehicles and their personnel.

Emergency vehicle related collisions in San Francisco, 24,494 collisions per 1,000,000 miles driven, are seven times higher than the national average for ambulances of 3,548.  Houston's rate is higher than San Francisco's, thirteen times the collision rate of civilian vehicles.

Next to heart attacks, emergency vehicle related collisions are the second leading cause of death for fire fighters.

According to the National Safety Council in 1998, over 32,000 crashes occurred involving ambulance, fire, police, and public service vehicles. Some thirty-five percent (35%) of 1,794 police pursuits in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota ended in collisions in 1998.

With California's increasing population and miles driven, accidents and fatalities involving civilians and emergency response vehicles will tragically increase. Increased vehicle sound proofing, use of cell phones, and other driver distractions, mean more civilian and emergency vehicle collisions in California are certain. The tragic aftermath of 9/11, and the resultant demand to improve emergency services, will require improved emergency response vehicle visibility and faster response times.

Further, research confirms emergency response vehicles lights running "Code 2" or "Code 3" produce "wake effect" accidents as drivers are startled by the lights and sirens. Code 2 means emergency lights only, Code 3 means emergency lights & siren. In 1997, Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County reported 377 "wake effect" accidents compared to 85 civilian/emergency responder collisions. In other words, "wake effect" accidents produced by emergency response vehicles lights and sirens are 4.4 times more likely to occur compared to no use of lights and sirens. Due to these statistics, many emergency response vehicle operators have established a policy of limited use of lights and sirens when running "Code 3", responding to emergency situations.

In addition to the loss of life that results from traffic accidents involving emergency response vehicles, the costs of repair and replacement and ever increasing insurance payouts can be prevented, or reduced, by the use of EVA.