Yep! Totally the same thing. The N. MPLS crash had the Opticom triggered but light was in the process of changing. (Based on video from gas station surveillance.)

Opticom is a brand name (it's a portmanteau of "optical" and "communication"). Interestingly, modern Opticom systems are more complicated than merely a strobe flashing at the correct frequency. Now, they can transmit data meaning that only authorized vehicles can preempt the light and there's a log of what vehicle has preempted what light.

Deteriorating fuel lines, bad oil leaks, electrical short circuits can all cause car fires. That's why most car fires tend to be older vehicles.

My community has had OPTICONS for 45 years. It helps the public because a non-flashing light means the emergency vehicle is going the same direction as you. If the light is flashing look for the emergency vehicle coming to the intersection from a different than where you are headed. I have seen times where the road has been cleared for the emergency vehicle for several intersecctions ahead and the response time is greatly reduced saving life and property.

@@Cyrano817 Thanks, trying to think if I hear a siren or see light first, flashing = crossing street, Solid same street, hopefully not behind me 🤨

Good idea!

I agree

i think it was an idiot thinking they were being pulled over

Which one ? Fedex driver or the other one ?

@@thomasfletcher4765 FedEx was fine, he couldn't move right because of the red truck. The black car acted like they haven't look in their rearview for 20 miles and then did nothing to move except slow down.

Same with Michigan. But here sometimes they will shut the whole highway down for something like this.

I’m a Floridian, I can confirm this is very very very true very very did I say very it’s very true

As a fellow Michigander I can confirm. @Anthony J.

Same in NY & CT. Nice the officer allowed traffic to pass. Here they shut down the whole road with no regard to drivers.

Same here in Washington and Oregon . Just about everyone has to stare at what's going on 🤦‍♂️

Agree!

@James328 Good morning James, many years ago when i was a young man i used to do this job as a Traffic Officer here in my country New Zealand. What you have mentioned here was very annoying as we could not get past them, even sometimes we are sitting right behind them with lights and siren. Sometimes we managed to pull them over further on and question them, 'why'? The most common explanation was, 'we had the stereo going plus we were all talking', and, 'no, didn't look in the rear view mirror'. One occasion i did a mercy dash from my base town to another major town hospital carrying a father and his small child (a girl), the child having overdosed on adult medication. It was a journey of 20 miles plus, and i remember clearly how this problem occurred several times on the two way highway, preventing me from overtaking. Not good. Bob. NZ.

They should be ticketed so they know for the future

I see far too many behind stupid and clueless drivers on the road

Drivers who panic 🤦🏻‍♂️ 1:25 car brakes then panics signals right slows down then merges left with right signal still on. Props to the cop for predicting their stupidity

They miss out on a lot of great videos!

why is a cop being "good" newsworthy?

@@hyun1141 why is exclusively posting negative news about the police a great thing? If the Media weren't a bunch of hacks they would show both sides instead, they exclusively show the negative side for both rating's and to help wedge the divide between the community and police.

Thats because the domocraps run the media. Theyre the ones that want to defund the police. They either show fake news or negative news.

Yeah that cop did great jumped out of his car with a fire extinguisher as though he was going to try to put a fire out didn't even try didn't even jump out and run to try to put it out nonchalantly got out of his car walk to the front of it looking like he's going to try but gave no effort yeah great job good trooper even the fake news new this was b******* to report on

Oh man, for sure!

Depending on jurisdiction they are illegal to posses for non-emergency people.

@@GeekBoyMN thats not true and you dont seem to understand how the system works. the pre-emption device is a camera thats senses emergency vehicles with their flashings lights on and the camera flashes a white light to let the first responders know that it sees them and that its changing the light for them. you cant install one in your car

@@steelwitness There is a device that mounts on the vehicle and flashes a specific pattern that triggers the preemption system that changes the lights. Civilians have gotten them and used them to get around cities. When caught they have been fined and/or jailed depending on local laws.

@@steelwitness Its illegal no questions

Niiice

Fingers crossed!

Definitely!

This is right by where I live and I literally assumed that everyone had them in this day on age lol

@@Joel-vx7hz I’ve lived in 5 states and never have seen them lol

Thank you and good to know!

Oh, thank you! Very helpful to know!

Illinois has a lot of them for sure. Obviously they are not in every county but they are in a lot of populated areas and work for fire/ems as well as police

@@jakestalec4752 Very good to know! Thank you!

THIS is the most important thing to know about those lights!!!!!!

It is illegal in Minnesota as well under certain circumstances. Has been for about 2 years. dps.mn.gov/blog/Pages/20190725-left-lane-law.aspx

@@1MiketheMechanic I was up there for a few months on a contract. You would think it was illegal to drive in the right lane based upon my experiences. I overtook on the right more in the 2 months I was there, then the prior 20 years as a driver.

@@jaredmehrlich6683 💯💯💯💯

A lot of idiots here in Minnesota. Idiots will drive in the left lane all day long. Stalling traffic, thinking they are entitled. I don't get it. Get the fxxK out of the left lane!!!!!

Totally awesome!

*opticom*

Yeah, and I think a lot of agencies now have them automatically turn off once in park… :)

I was wondering what kind of car it was, if it's a Chrysler product I am not shocked either!

Oh good point! Yes, I’m sure they’ve saved countless crashes and enhanced response times. Very cool technology!

Great point!

What happens if all coming from different directions 😂😂😂

@@almilhouse9059 it's all about who can get to the detector first. Even with that said, you still have to proceed with caution. You can't go flying through an intersection with lights and sirens on.

It's also a great tool for screwing up an intersection when someone forgets to turn off the opticom emitter and their vehicle happens to be parked facing the intersection.. I've seen that happen twice over the last 10 years, in both cases the intersection had no confirmation light so maybe that's another reason to have one.

Currently there are 14 states that require annual vehicle inspections and 5 that require biennial inspections. Most other states only require inspections the first time a vehicle is registered.

Definitely 😉

No need too, fire truck was on a ramp and vehicle was on shoulder and traffic was moving over. Why cause a 3 mile back up that may only cause more accidents?

Hey Alvan! Good insight and thanks for your comment!

😝

Hehe. He realized there was not a life safety concern. Once you have fire running under the vehicle, extinguishment may require more than that dry chem can hold. Excellent response, even protected the number 2 lane for the firefighter. He even gave the driver a rude off the highway. I salute you for some fantastic professional work!

I woulda grabbed it from his dumasz and sprayed my car myself if he obviously wasnt going to. That fire was tiny then the video cuts cause he wasted too much time fumbling around digging it out of the trunk

@@JimHerbertOutdoors It was already on the gas tank, and the extinguisher wouldn't have put it out anyways.

@@JimHerbertOutdoors not a flipping chance a little 5lb fire extinguisher was going to do anything to that fire. Our fire chief used to say "you're past your deductible." Insurance isn't going to fix a burned out car no matter what.

Yes! I definitely wanted to include this for discussion. I don’t think they could move right because of the sedan blocking the middle lane. But what do you think?

@@MidwestSafety Fed Ex Truck IMO did the right thing..Stayed in his lane and looked like he slowed down a little, lane was blocked by another vehicle...Wasnt able to move over fast enough with the speed of the patrol vehicle...

@@mattyroc77 Yeah, I thought driver did best he could under circumstances. The sedan was the issue and made things confusing!

@@MidwestSafety the car in middle lane just past the FedEx at around 1:29 started blinking right but didn’t move over and then just hit brakes as cruiser was behind him! Grrr!

@@JohnHallgren So frustrating!!!

I guess you're a trained emergency responder.

@@leerilea1709 I guess you have a smart alec mouth on the internet.

@@thecommentary21 look who's talking

But first, you have to actually be AWARE of your surroundings, and check your mirror occasionally LOL So there goes *that* idea ... :-)

😊

Never was the smoke thick enough to not see through. Judging by how long the trooper drove to get to the fire, they may have been the only one in the area.

That’s a great idea to let buses use them! Would definitely help encourage ridership.

How did you do it? Did it go far

@@hayden8693 around here, it picks a signal up around a half mile and only that lane is green which stops everyone else

@@thomasbaker3262 where does the bell ring? Did it go there?

Thanks! Unfortunately no details on the fire. Sorry!

Yeah, it’s like, how much is good response times and public safety worth, right? 😊 Definitely appreciate the update!

@@MidwestSafetyVirginia's cheapness never ceases to amaze me. It's ingrained in the culture around here to do everything as cheaply and half-ass as possible.

@@brianleeper5737 I agree. Not only is Virginia cheap, but they're also one of, if not the most strict state in the USA. So many dumb rules we have to abide by.

@@BrandonP8176 Virginia politicians sure do have an authoritarian streak.

Has nothing to do with being cheap, the light serves as a confirmation light primarily was meant to tell responders that the light "sees you", later versions can digitally respond give you a confirmation on the controller that the light hears you. The cost of the extra lights is actually quite abit significantly more than 500$, I think the difference in quote on the system is in the neighborhood of about 1k per traffic light

The Fed Ex driver with dual trailers had little choice, the SUV was tooling along in the adjacent lane.

:) Thanks for posting this!

That is seriously so cool!!! Wow - totally awesome and I'm glad you let us know!

:)

😊

Wow, fascinating!

I knew someone who was convinced that flashing their headlights at a traffic signal would get the light to change late at night. What he was unaware of is that late at night many traffic signals operate "on demand" and will give a green fairly quickly if they don't sense any opposing traffic.

@@brianleeper5737 hahaha, niiiice

@@brianleeper5737 Did they park on top of the current loop sensor, which is the Best Way, usually?

Agree completely with all of this!

Thank you! You're right, I definitely should have mentioned it!

if the light is flashing it means that the opticom has detected conflicting calls for pre-emption, and the side with the flashing light came last, so it tells the emergency vehicle driver that they won't be getting a green.

They probably have a warrant out for their arrest or are in a stolen car and think the cops are coming for them. lol. They don't know if they should pull over or run. Other than that, they are clueless morons behind the wheel.

N his way, now the Hyundai for no reason at all panicked and didn't move.

The road train I can't really blame him, he had the pickup and the Hyundai

If it's solid, they're behind you. Flashing is from a different direction.

@@bloc0102 sweet thanks for the info

Great idea!

@@bloc0102 Flashing is to indicate to an approaching emergency vehicle driver that the opticom has detected their approach, but will not be giving them a green right away because another emergency vehicle coming from a different direction has already gotten the green.

@@brianleeper5737 while true, I have noticed all three other directions flashing when I could see them, with only one emergency vehicle approaching (I'm guessing this varies by location).

I'm curious too! Glad they're safe!

Love it! Awesome!

It wouldn't have mattered, the tank was on fire. The car was screwed to begin with.

He arrived and the first question was? "Is there anyone in there?" Nope, then no more need to rush. Risk a lot to save a lot. Risk a little to save a little. There was no one and nothing to save. Whatever the insurance deductible is on that car, it was past it when he arrived.

You're intelligent. No one was moving over dilbert, he had no choice. If people actually obeyed the law he could have.

@@leerilea1709 Sad that you have to throw out insults, to a person stating facts. That's usually a sign of lack of intelligence. I've seen other agencies over come that issue by giving drivers a few extras seconds as they charge siren tone and use air horn, or turning off lights and sirens for a second as they pass on the right, then turn them back on. Don't bother responding i don't care your opinion. Passing on the right with lights and sirens is unsafe . That's a fact.

@@seth9871 whatever. You are very misinformed. People simply do not obey the law, to ignore that fact is ignorant, and you are hurling insults more than I.

Great points!

Not when fire department is there unless they don’t get it under control

Definitely! Could have easily become a grass fire!

This made me laugh! Definitely experienced this same thing during rush hour a couple of times!

I always thought that it was common sense to program the traffic signal to give a green to the busiest legs of the intersection when the pre-emption ends. This is called the "exit phase". But I've seen many of them that give a green to the lightly-used side street instead, which makes me think that the people who program these things just leave it at the default setting.

Wtf are you talking about? At no time in this video was traffic stopped in the opposite direction. And as far as using the deck gun you're just stupid. Go back to playing video games and leave it to the guys that actually know wth is going on.

Closing a highway completely increases the risk of another accident as opposed to closing 1 lane for fire

Cars don't "blow". Thats hollywood stuff. What you saw on this video is as bad as it gets. It was a huge fireball, but thats it.