Local

New traffic light technology helping firefighters in metro city respond faster

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — New technology is getting you faster help in an emergency in one metro Atlanta city. It's all tied to traffic lights.

The city of Marietta is the first in the country to have technology that gives firefighters green lights at pre-cleared intersections. The city covered the $60,000 cost for the system with SPLOST money.

"Seconds matter when you talk about lives. So when you start talking about minutes, that’s significant," said Marietta Fire Chief Tim Milligan.

Channel 2 Action News rode along with firefighters to see how they navigate the roads with the technology.

The system knows how fast the trucks are going. If it's backed up at one intersection, it will speed up the lights at intersections in front of that one.

"Not only is it faster in our response times, but it’s also safer for our responders and our public," Milligan said.

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Firefighters don't have to push a button or flip a switch. The emergency system and sirens on the truck trigger the system.

"The system is smart enough to know what direction they’re going in and it preemptively deactivates the signals," Milligan said.

In the last 18 months, the chief told Channel 2 his firefighters are responding to calls a minute faster.

"We’re confident we’ll see a minute and a half, two-minute time savings once we fine-tune, finalize every detail in the system," he said.