emerg. lights and/or sirens on POV's

I want to know why most states tell volunteer firefighters that they can not run emerg. equipment on pov's when the insurance is not paid by the state to begin with? Liability is one thing, saving someone's life is totally different. I'm sure politicians would change their tune if their house was burning down and fd showed up late cause they couldn't get through traffic like they need too.

I've volunteered in a few states, in Virginia it's two red lights steady burning or flashing. In Colorado however Vol's could run full light bars (red, wht, blu lites) and sirens. This I thought was a bit much, after sitting at a busy four lane intersection watching a engine responding east bound w/ full lights & sirens, and a volunteer responding north bound approaching the same intersection in his Oldsmoblie w/ light's & siren going it was obvious the drivers approaching or stopped at the intersection were focused on the east bound engine. Once the engine passed drivers then attempted to proceed through the intersection only to be suprised by Johnny on the spot in his Oldsmobile blasting for the road. Take Illinois, would you pull over for someone behind you with "green" flashing lights? How about NJ, PA, NY of CT where blue lights are for vol's. Yes I do agree vol's should have the right to run warning lights, but their should be a standard nation wide.

I am on a small volunteer dept and we are PROHIBITED from running any emergency lights, we are allowed to use our 4-way hazards. We are one of 2 depts in the county (out of 9) not allowed red rotating beacon lights. Personally in my short 2 years I have had only a few motorists yield for me, most seem to slow down and look at me through the rearview mirror. And my point is MINUTES EVEN SECONDS COUNT... I believe that warning lights are adventageous and should be implemented.

I would also agree to a standard, there shouldn't be anything wrong with red/white?

Oklahoma does not allow any lights at all.

Actually, Illinois doesn't use green for POV lights. (Indiana does).

In Illinois, if you have green rotating/flashing lights, you better be a school bus.

HB0161, US Senate, passed the house. LIGHTS AND SIRENS BAAAAAABY!!!!

APG1
I stand corrected. Green lights on a school bus??????

I'm new to the game and when I asked about lights and sirens on POV I was told that any one,except Cadets, could use lights and sirens, but civilians do not have to yield since we are not "emergency vehicles" and that the D.P.S.(TX Highway Patrol) frown at the use of blue foward facing lights. So it's red for me.

Stay safe,

Seems to me Texas is the most "lax", when it somes to lights on POV's. Hey, we still have red/blue bubblegums on two of our trucks. Personally, I support having lights on POV's, when I am parked at a scene, I want to be SEEN. MVFD, you arent anywhere in Palo Pinto or parker county are you? (email me if you are)

Thx yall, be safe

BTW, I dont really care what color anyone uses as long as they are safe and dont pull people over for the fun of it.

Does any one know if Wig Wags (alternating headlights) are legal in New York State for volunteers on POV's when used WITH a blue light? Let me know...thanks.

firehouse.com ever think about doing a survery with state and stations as to what is allowed and isnt?

I do know that in Texas, most people will only look at you, if your enroute to a scene, with anything but Red. I know of a couple of departments close by, who use all sorts of colors in their POV lights. Green & purple being the only addition to the red/clear/yellow/blue combination in a full sized lightbar. With that many colors, who really knows what they are.

Besides from what I've heard Purple is supposed to be reserved for Funeral Processions.

I do have a set of Red/blue alternating flashers mounted in my grille, but they aren't really readily seen, and if anyone says anything about them, I'll just change out one of the lenses if needed.


[This message has been edited by Westlake23 (edited 05-14-2001).]

Originally posted by fireslayer75:
I want to know why most states tell volunteer firefighters that they can not run emerg. equipment on pov's when the insurance is not paid by the state to begin with? Liability is one thing, saving someone's life is totally different. I'm sure politicians would change their tune if their house was burning down and fd showed up late cause they couldn't get through traffic like they need too.

ON my dept. there is no rule on how many light you can have. us young guys are always competing to see who can be the brigntest, but the fun and games end when the tones drop. in my opinion the more lights, the more visible you are which = saftey. ??? Maybe thats why the apparatus have so many lights????????

I've whatched this type of thread before and always bit my tongue.

Minutes ever Seconds COunt was one quote. Do the math on speed. Figure how many miles you travel to a station, then figure out what the difference in time will be at 30, 40, 50 and 60mph. Not much of a difference in time unless you have to travel 20 miles.

Don't know what it's like where you all are from, I log easily >100 miles of emergency driving a week. That's with lights, siren and the works and I tell ya, drivers don't yeild.

Responsible driving in the safest and easiest way to get to the station or scene, and with or without lights on the POV, you wont be changing the time significantly enough.

Vermont allows red lights and sirens on POV. Most departments require that you finish your probationary period before being allowed to use them. There is no limit on how much you can get any thing from lightbars to a tear-drop on the dash.

I really don't know about New Mexico but I can tell you that in LA if a volunteer has an accident running emergency lights the Chief and the department's insurance company can be held liable. A POV running code is considered an extension of the department and must be covered by department insurance. It is not worth the endangering of the general public for one firefighter to reach the scene 30 seconds faster.

[This message has been edited by BonCreChief@Yahoo.com (edited 05-23-2001).]

Warning lights and sirens should be reserved for the bonafide emergency vehicles, ie, fire trucks, ambulances, police cruisers. It's just plain confusing to the motoring public to have dozens of POV's, all different shapes and sizes, displaying each a different warning signal, responding through town when an alarm comes in. Add to that the few throttle jockies in that group, and the liability far outweighs the benefit.

Think about, how many true life threatening emergencies did you respond to in the last year? Light and siren use has never been proven to have made a positive influence in the outcome of these tragedies, which make up only a small portion of the total response volume.

This subject is and always has been, an emotional one.
Statements like, "if it were your house," or "IF your family was in danger," are typically used to defend its use, rather than factual evidence. Because, the facts will show that the use of lights and sirens on POV's has no benefit to the final outcome of a life threatening situation.

I am from Massachusetts. We are allowed whatever lights we choose but no siren. I disagree with the last post about it confusing people with different makes and types of vehicles with lights. Lights are lights, our law says pull to the right and stop, not evaluate what make and model vehicle it is, determine what agency it represents and act accordingly. I am a proponent for everyone with an emergency vehicle having the same colored light for that reason. If it is an emergency vehicle then who/what it is shouldnt matter. I know in Mass fire is red and pd is blue, and in NY this is opposite, and the NY state police have harrassed Mass fire vehicles responding in NY. To me this is really petty(dont know if it is still happening). We are all accountable for our actions regardless of lights or not. If someone drives like a whacker responding, they will do so with or without lights and quite frankly where our system allows for some scene response in POVs I feel a lot more comfortable being visible

Originally posted by NEWT1670:
Does any one know if Wig Wags (alternating headlights) are legal in New York State for volunteers on POV's when used WITH a blue light? Let me know...thanks.

The Flashing of headlights are illegal in NYS. You are allowed one blue flashing light no greater than 32 candle power.

[CAPTAINKAOS]

New York States law makes every light sold on the market illegal, good thing the cops don't pay any attention.