Give way for Ambulances?

[Profpointy]

Do ambulances jump out of the bushes?

Very droll I'm sure, but at a junction or roundabout where it most matters it could in front, behind, left, or right.

In any case are you claiming that you know the pitch of an ambulence hooter well enough to know if it's a a semitone flat and receding or sharp hence gaining on you and even then are you catching it up or is it catching you up ?

Not trying to be difficult but I still don't quite see what you're getting at

 

[Profpointy]

Unless you're unfortunate enough to be in one, ambulances are always either coming towards you or away from you.

In the wider context of direction of sound, that's why we have ears on the opposite sides of our head?

Quite, so nothing to do with doppler effect .

 

[classic33]

Unless you're unfortunate enough to be in one, ambulances are always either coming towards you or away from you.

In the wider context of direction of sound, that's why we have ears on the opposite sides of our head?

You've three roads of to one side, with buildings on each side of them, which one is on?

 

[Profpointy]

Err... yes it is.

Perhaps you can explain how doppler effect helps you determine the direction a sound is coming from ?

I know what doppler effect is, so you can skip that bit.

I also know that at the instant a moving sound source passes you, you can infer it's now going away, but that's not the question either.

 

[Pale Rider]

What absolute twaddle. Look up the Doppler Effect for a start.

As you might now gather, the doppler effect will not help you with direction.

In a car, most of the siren sound comes through the roof, making it even harder to determine direction.

What we all instinctively do is use our other senses and existing knowledge.

You hear a siren and make the reasonable assumption it's on the road nearby, probably behind you so that's where you look.

A cyclist in the open air would have a better chance of determining direction, but it's still not easy without other information.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

The Doppler Effect allows you to determine whether or not a the vehicle is moving toward or away from you.

I will admit that I do not understand the science but I can only tell that the ambulance is coming towards me or going away from me due to the volume of the tone, I also have to use my eyes to distinguish which direction it's coming from & rely on the blue lights

 

[Profpointy]

Let's move the goalposts back to where they were:





The Doppler Effect allows you to determine whether or not a the vehicle is moving toward or away from you.

ok the original claim was "direction" which I took literally, not least because I was looking around in all "directions" at a road junction at the weekend to determine where the sound of an ambulance was from. I don't believe doppler effect is any help with this.

Even on the approaching/ receding point, which is nothing to do with direction, unless you've a good sense of pitch and a good memory of the sound of a stationary ambulance I am sceptical that you'd know from the pitch if it's approaching or receding. If the pitch changes, fair enough - but since you'd have just seen it pass, that ain't relevant.

 

[Profpointy]

Towards you. So stop and you'll soon find out.

or away from you ?

 

[Profpointy]

Still twaddle. The car may mute the sound somewhat but thats it.

Just repeating "it's twaddle" does not make your point any more correct

 

[Deleted member 26715]

[QUOTE 5126144, member: 45"]Let's not overcomplicate this. The cyclist's attitude is evidence enough that he could have managed it better. There were options other than putting himself in the position he did.[/QUOTE]Say what you see as Catchphrase says, He was a "knob" & more of a knob for trying to defend his knobbish actions.

 

[mjr]

It is in my case I only have 1 working ear which is devoid of hearing in certain ranges, I cannot determine from which direction a sound comes from without turning my head & then it's still not 100% successful.

I have 2 sort-of working ears, but one ear is inconsistent in hearing in certain ranges (and it varies from day to day). It is rather difficult to tell which direction emergency vehicles are coming from and I get lots of practice cycling along A roads. It was easier when the siren used to have that crunch noise (pink or white noise) interspersed in it, but they seem to have stopped doing that - anyone know why?

Even so and even when listening to music while cycling, I still seem to hear emergency vehicles much sooner than motorists, so pulling over immediately would be very risky, as many motorists would take that as an invitation to crush me to the kerb. So far, I've always had time to reach the next safe space to stop (bus stop or whatever), but I might not always... but hey, plenty of motorists seem to foul up and get in the way but usually no-one comments about it. Why is everyone so keen to abuse that one cyclist? Is it that we expect all cyclists to be saints but everyone expects motorists to foul up?

 

[Profpointy]

Some '2 ear' science for you...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interaural_time_difference

Quite - so not doppler effect.Sorted

 

[mjr]

You slow down and pull to the side. Simples!

So you slow and pull to the side of the roundabout and get honked at by the ambulance whose driver wanted to turn left...

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Why is everyone so keen to abuse that one cyclist? Is it that we expect all cyclists to be saints but everyone expects motorists to foul up?

Because there appears to be a good consensus that the cyclist was a fault but he clearly doesn't think he was & decided to publicly blame the ambulance driver

 

[Amanda P]

It has nothing to do with the OP, but...

In an open environment - a road across a fen, say - a cyclist or pedestrian unhampered by being in a tin box could usually judge the direction a siren was approaching from quite easily - your brain uses the delay between a sound arriving at one ear and then the other to decide. In the event that it’s coming from directly in front or behind, a tiny movement of your head sorts it out.

An urban environment is quite different. Big buildings can block sound, so you can’t always hear the approach until much later. More importantly, sound will reflect and re-reflect off buildings like an enthusiastic break on a pool table, so that sirens can appear to be coming from all directions at once. If you can’t see the blue lights - because, on approach, they’re hidden by those same tall buildings or large vehicles - you have no other clues.

And in some circumstances, your best option, to clear the way for an ambulance is not to pull over but to keep rolling. There may not be anywhere safe to stop that doesn’t result in causing a new hazard, so best to keep moving towards where you CAN get clear.

Not, as I say, that that has anything much to do with the OP.