wisconsin law concerning lights and sirens

Can anyone tell me what the DOT says about lights and sirens in personal vehicals. Do we need a siren if we have a light or is just a light acceptable??

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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on March 1, 2011 at 2:24pm

Reading your response, what I get is a sense of total commitment to community. This is a mature, appropriate usage of emergency lighting at accident scenes to protect not just yourself, but the patient(s). You are also identifying the location for responding units which is often times necessary due to the remoteness of the incident. My experience working in rural communities as that folks like yourself are the heart and soul of what makes emergency services work. I commend you Bull. And that's just my opinion!!! :D

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Permalink Reply by Tyler Lyons on March 1, 2011 at 2:43pm

Then why do fire engines, ambulances and police cars have lights and sirens? IF they are used correctly and safely, then you can get anywhere faster and safer.... just sayin

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on March 1, 2011 at 7:56pm

Lights and sirens really have nothing to do with getting anywhere safer, that lies with the driver and to use due regard. Sirens and lights don't really get you anywhere too much faster either. Yes, such tools should be used correctly, but there can also be discrestion.

As I noted several times, a rig can respond (here) with lights only, just the traffic laws have to be obeyed. Why it can work here more is because we do have opticom and the lights is what triggers the traffic light to change. It really does depend upon the call and realistically there is no reason that one needs to have sirens blaring going through a residential neighborhood in the middle of the night. Just sayin.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on March 1, 2011 at 8:28pm

just because you got them, doesn't mean you have to use them... with that said, if I worked in Portland for example, you know, a big city, then you would be foolish not to respond with both lights and sirens, maybe for the entire response. big cities are far more complex than rural communities where sirens are used more to ask someone to move over, cover your ass before, during and after going through intersections and maybe a couple of extra horn honks to say hi to your kids... yup, I'm guilty of that one. just sayin' ( I love that sayin'..., just sayin').

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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on March 1, 2011 at 8:33pm

This is true Steven but... and this is TOTALLY hypothetical of course, but let's say you have an assigned battalion's chief vehicle that has code 3 capabilities and you use this vehicle to go to a doctors' appointment when you get off shift to have a vasectomy. So you finish the agonizing gut wrenching surgery, swearing at yourself for not figuring out that someone over six-feet tall is going to have HUGE fingers, and difficulty finding said things to cut... Just sayin'

So your driving home and it's about a 40-minute drive home on the freeway, and about 1/2-way home the pain meds and "numbing medication" starts to wear off... My question would be whether it would be wrong to flip the lights and siren on to facilitate a speedier trip to the sofa and pain meds?

Again, this is totally hypothetical, and it could be a very real scenario, right? And by the way, for those who have not experiencing a vasectomy (so I've heard) plan on feeling like this and having a constant desire to take a nap on the porch. Just sayin'