Morrisville Grabbing Drivers' Attention with New Fire Truck

Drivers should slow down and move right when they see an emergencyvehicle, but often this doesn't always happen.

"Some of them panic, run off the road or stop real quick," saysfirefighter David Lynn. "Some of them try to outrun you. You never know what they're going to do."

Older fire trucks have lights and horns on top which have a hard time competingfor a driver's attention.

When you're driving, you may have the radio on or the air conditioning. You may be talking to a passenger, plus there is traffic noise and carsare well-insulated today. All of this makes it almost impossible to hear astandard fire truck siren.

The Morrisville Fire Department has a new truck equipped with reflectors,lights and sirens strategically placed on the lower front portion of thetruck to get drivers' attention.

Firefighters say they hope this will help drivers do the right thing.

"We're not going to try to run you over or off the road," says MorrisvilleFire Chief Tony Chiotakis. "We need you to yield and let us to go aroundyou."

Following that rule could save your life. Many departments are switchingover to the more modern version of the fire truck, but not all because they are expensive. Morrisville's new truck cost about $500,000 dollars.