Patent attributes
A system to warn an automobile driver of an approaching emergency vehicle includes at least one sensor (18) located in the motor vehicle (12), the sensor being responsive to sense the alert-status signal from the emergency vehicle and to provide an output signal indicative thereof, a control block (20) responsive to the signal from the sensor and operative to provide an output signal indicative thereof, visual indicia (16) associated with the face of the rearview mirror (14) and receiving the output signal from the control block, and an audio alert (22) also responsive to the output signal from the control block. The visual indicia include four indicia markers located at approximately 90 degrees from one another on horizontal and vertical axes visible on the face of the mirror to provide the driver with visual directional notification of the presence and location of the emergency vehicle. The four indicia markers are normally either invisible or visually muted with respect to the face of the mirror, and are individually illuminatable responsive to the output signal from the control block. The four indicia markers establish top, bottom, left and right indicia responsive to output signals associated with the presence of an emergency vehicle located ahead, behind, to the left and to the right of the motor vehicle, respectively.
