Abstract: An emergency vehicle alert system provides a transceiver for use in emergency vehicles and a receiver for use in non-emergency vehicles. The transceiver is operative in either a receive mode or a transceive mode at the user's choice. In the transceive mode, the transceiver alternates between emergency vehicle alert signal transmission and a receiving function in which the presence of other emergency vehicles may be detected. In the receive mode, the transceiver responds directly to received emergency vehicle alert signals from other vehicles in the same manner as the standard receiving unit. The transceiver produces a signal having encoded information which identifies the emergency vehicle type. The receiver receives and processes the emergency vehicle alert signal to identify the presence of an emergency vehicle and the type of vehicle doing the transmitting.