To the Editor:

I am responding to the Johnston article on Thursday, Feb. 22 in the Northwest section of the Providence Journal. The article pertains to the unfounded death of Miss Victoria Fasciano. The 11-year-old daughter died in that fire truck collision with her mother’s car. A year ago I researched the traffic signal control for emergency vehicles and the patent number is 5,014,052. Their preliminary evidence are just facts and they do not coincide with the scientific proven concrete facts. Don’t say that the mother did not hear the siren. According to this newest invention, the noise problems were addressed and this is not a problem anymore with people playing the radio with the windows closed. It does not make any sense. How could the white van block the view of the fireman when the white van left the intersection first? And then Ms. Indell’s car came out in the intersection. Go to www.uspto.gov and type in the number of the patent 5,014,052. Or go to www.google.com or www.ask.com type in the patent number for traffic signal control. I was home all day, in the morning, and I always hear the sirens with my house windows closed. I did not hear the siren. They are allowed to blast the siren over the required decibel noise limits. Even if the system was not working, the human operator may be equipped to override the decisions made by the operator. The emergency fire vehicle or any emergency vehicle can also control the traffic signals with verbal requests. They were responding to an alarm that malfunctioned and there was no fire so I really do not think they used their siren because it was not an emergency. It was also reported the white van that was traveling ahead blocked the view of the overhead traffic lights. You cannot block the view of the overhead traffic lights because vans or trucks are supposed to be a certain height so that they can go under a bridge underpass. I am so concerned because every tragedy that happens you are supposed to learn from this to prevent the next disaster. The traffic signal control for all emergency vehicles states that you are not supposed to speed.

Every emergency vehicle, no matter who you are or who you protect, you always have to have control of your vehicle. It is a total injustice to make it look like Ms. Indell was at fault by not being aware of her surroundings. The system uses repeat if something is wrong and even if the system is not turned on then the human operator may be equipped to override the decisions made by the automatic equipment. So even if the emergency vehicle does not have this system then they can still communicate with traffic control verbally with their two-way radio. According to the traffic laws it is always the person who collided with her car who is at fault. That is always the law regardless of who is at fault. The fire truck collided into her car, not the other way around as they have you believe. The system identified the emergency vehicle and the time and the desired route through the intersection. This is all stored in the electronic memory bank at the Department of Transportation traffic control, so that the operator of the system may quickly clear all traffic lanes to be used by the emergency vehicle instead of blocking them with stored traffic. I do not know if the fireman turned the system on. It was mentioned that the system was working. Even if for some reason that she was caught in the middle of the intersection then if this intersection is not monitored by cameras – Hartford Avenue and Atwood Avenue, Johnston – then DOT should look into installing them. The system could be working but there could be a minor system failure to not accommodate this deadly problem. The system says to proceed, wait or retreat. All emergency vehicles need to safely proceed and that means to control your vehicle at all times even if you speed fast.

Carol Pisani

Johnston