Soon You'll Hear Ambulances and Fire Trucks Hittin' From Like 50 Blocks Away

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.

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