We’ve all seen it happen. We’re driving down a road and see a fire truck or ambulance approaching at a fast pace.

We pull over to the right and stop to provide the first responders an unhampered route to get to the emergency as quickly as possible. But often, we also see other motorists who aren’t pulling over.

Maybe they don’t see the lights or hear the siren.

The Tiburon and Southern Marin fire departments are taking steps to help solve that problem.

Both agencies deal with heavily traveled two-lane roads where motorists pulling over and stopping is critical to their response.

The two agencies are subscribing to new technology that sends alerts of nearby drivers through smartphones and some vehicles’ navigation systems.

The cost is minimal, but the result could help save a life or a home.

The system can also alert motorists that traffic is stopped due to an emergency.

Southern Marin is already using the technology and Tiburon is planning to deploy it this month.

“Sometimes they don’t hear the sirens, sometimes they don’t see the lights,” said Tommy Hellyer, Tiburon Fire Protection District chief. He says the technology — Safety Cloud — can get word to motorists that emergency vehicles are approaching, providing greater safety for the motorist, first responders and those to whom firefighting squads or paramedics are responding.

Tiburon and the Southern Marin Fire Protection District are among 5,000 agencies worldwide that have deployed Safety Cloud.

One of them is Hartford Fire and Rescue, serving a community outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“When one of those vehicles is driving on the road with its emergency lights activated, it will notify people who are using navigation apps as well as some newer vehicles with in-vehicle displays that there is an emergency vehicle approaching and they should pull over,” Hartford Fire Chief Tony Burgard said in a story in the Washington County Daily News.

Given the low cost, the technology is worth a try for Southern Marin and Tiburon, as well.

It has its limitations, but it also has the potential to improve safety and emergency response.

The alerts may not reach every motorist. But for some who may have the volume of Bruce Springsteen or Dua Lipa turned way up inside their cars and aren’t paying attention to the rearview mirror — or they just aren’t paying attention, period — the alert could get their attention and make a difference in their safely pulling over, emergency responders’s safety and the fate of those who need their help.

It is too early and pretty hard to tell if motorists are pulling over because they are paying attention or have received a Safety Cloud alert. But given the importance that every motorist safely reacts and responds, it is worth a try.