Take a look around next time you're stuck in rush hour traffic. The woman in the car next to you is putting on makeup. The guy on the other side is yakking on his cell phone. Everywhere you look, distracted motorists are doing everything but paying attention to what's happening around them. It's annoying as hell if you're a commuter, but it can be a matter of life or death if you're a cop or paramedic.
Enter the Rumbler Intersection Clearing System, which can grab the attention of drivers oblivious to the flashing lights and blaring sirens of police cars and ambulances. It generates a low-level vibration all but guaranteed to get the attention of even the most brain-dead motorists so emergency vehicles waste less time slicing through traffic.
"People were cocooning themselves so much inside their vehicles that in some cases, the siren and lights didn't seem to be enough," says Tom Morgan of Federal
Signal Corp, which developed the Rumbler. "That increases the risk to an officer or to the citizens in an area where an emergency is occurring."
The technology behind the Rumbler is surprisingly simple and works a lot like those annoying bass-heavy stereos that rattle your windows at 2 a.m.
The system costs $429.99 and features an amplifier, a timer, an electronic siren (mechanical ones don't work) and two subwoofers. When the siren blares, it's output is duplicated at a signal two octaves lower, then amplified and played through the subs. The resulting rumble is enough to shake solid materials, creating a vibration that demands attention. The coffee can-sized speakers can be easily installed in vehicle wheel wells, and the control unit mounts under the hood or in the trunk.
The Rumbler was designed for Ford Crown Victorias – a staple of law enforcement fleets – but also is being used in SUVs, Chevrolet Impalas and the Dodge Chargers gaining popularity with police departments. Sixty law enforcement agencies, most in densely populated urban areas, are using the Rumbler and loving it. The Metro PD in Washington DC has outfitted 80 squad cars with the gadgets and says it's proven so successful it may put one in every car in the motor pool.
But not everyone is raving about the Rumbler. Citizens Coalition Against Noise Pollution (they'd prefer you call them Noise Off) says the device creates an "ear splitting sound" and notes the company's own marketing materials warn "sirens and speakers may cause hearing damage." When urging city councils to reject the Rumbler, Noise Off explains that regular exposure to low frequencies can cause hearing loss, sleep deprivation, chronic fatigue, anxiety, hostility, depression and hypertension. None of those are qualities you want in emergency service professionals.
Not surprisingly, the company disagrees with Noise Off's assessment. Morgan says the Rumbler actually operates at 109 dB compared to 119 dB for standard sirens and 120 dB for a thunder clap. "I think some people expect it to be like somebody pulling up to them with a boom box going so loud that they see everything start to vibrate around them," he says. "Although it operates on the same kind of principle at lower frequency, it's more subtle than that."
Public reaction to the Rumbler has been mixed, with some drivers complaining it's annoying.
Isn't that the point?
Photo by Flickr user Pogo Stick, video by YouTube user lptvboy. You won't feel the vibration, but you'll get a sense of how the Rumbler works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rHLp45xo-8
