pov's...whats better red lights or blue volunteer lights, what works better

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Permalink Reply by Kasey on August 20, 2008 at 1:08am

I've been told that in Virginia, or at least in my county, its illegal to have blue lights since thats what police use. I have a red and white combination in my truck, can't remember the brand name, and am considering putting a red LED light bar that I got for $10 at Advance Auto in my car. I hardly ever respond to calls on it since its hard to take off-road, but I want to have something to get peoples attention for the times that I do.

Permalink Reply by Robbie Snow on August 20, 2008 at 1:16am

I think volunteers should only use red or white for the simple fact police use blue. If to many people start using blue, it would be confusing for civilians.

Permalink Reply by Jason Seavey on August 20, 2008 at 1:21am

i completely agree Robbie ....baileyville ambulance had 2 blue lights on the back and we got pulled over once by maine state police for it......shouldent they be...catching kids with guns and crack?????

Permalink Reply by Justin Buck on August 20, 2008 at 1:23am

in Arkansas we are not allowed blue lights either. i have red lights they work great

Permalink Reply by misty on August 20, 2008 at 4:21am

we run red and white lights on our povs Idaho does not allow blue lights because thats what police use. I have never had a problem getting anyone to move off the rd for me with the red lights.

Permalink Reply by Captain Busy on August 20, 2008 at 4:35am

Simply put, you cannot use blue lights at all... period... end of story... lord knows when they did this testing but blue light can be seen from a further distance away than any other color. Cops know this and have laws written that are pretty consistent across the country as to who gets to use the blue lighting, whether it be strobe lights or revolving lights. Cops win and we get stuck with the less efficient red lights. Seems to me if you want to get someone's attention, then having the wigwag feature installed (if legal) on your front headlights works really well.

I've got to tell you that I'm jealous. Working for a county fire department does not give me the ability to respond Code 3 in anything other than one of our pieces of fire apparatus. How cool to take my wifes BMW, put a magnetic light on top and hit the gas pedal! Just kidding... I personally hate to drive since promoting to captain seven years ago. I just don't feel like I have the same intuitive control when it comes to driving, and specially when it's Code 3 driving.

So, what exactly do you get to drive Code 3 to your calls?

Permalink Reply by Firefighter Tyler Supplee on August 25, 2008 at 11:16pm

We use Blue in PA.That's all we can have with the exception of Chiefs and Ass. Chiefs, they can have red or red/white and a siren.We can run 2 Blue "units" and has to be seen 360 degrees.We can run like a mini bar and a dash light but that's it.

Permalink Reply by anne potter on August 20, 2008 at 6:01am

IT DEPENDS WHAT STATE YOU LIVE IN .. lIGHTs DON'T ALWAYS WORK i HAVE HAD JUST MY HEADLIGHTs AND flicked them and with smart driving got there just as safe and quickly at times my bluelight has slowed me up and caused people to be confused.. In ny it is not a law that you pull over for blue or green light which is ems.. ..So sometimes people will move sometime they don't and if you push that you could cause a accident....... The main thing is to drive safe...

Permalink Reply by Barry Homyack on August 20, 2008 at 6:17am

In my state of NJ, unless you are a fire chief or a cop, you cannot use any type of red lights on your own cars. It must be blue lights only, and it does not matter how many canddle power any more. NJ dont care if you light up your car light a x-mas tree, as long as you only have blue lights. Even our amb personnel must only have blue lights.

Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on August 20, 2008 at 6:46am

Before a state-by-state discussion of light laws starts up again it may be informative to read through these discussions:

http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topic/show?id=889755%3ATopic...

http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topic/show?id=889755%3ATopic...

http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topic/show?id=889755%3ATopic...

As far as color goes, each state has its own rules and regulations. But having run both blue and red, I will say that a blue roof-mounted halogen mini-bar gets the deer out of the way more effectively than red.

Permalink Reply by Brian D. on August 23, 2008 at 4:23pm

It depends entirely which state you live in. Here in Illinois, Volunteers/Paid/POC, etc. arre allowed to use blue lights and NOT red. I'm OK with that because studies have shown that blue is easier to see than red, especially at night! Stay safe!

Permalink Reply by PFC Harmon on August 23, 2008 at 4:39pm

Like everyone else has said it all depends on state laws but thats a dead horse. I have only lioved in KY and TN both states will only allow red and white for firefighters. I have an 06 ram with a visor light red and white and an led stick in the back glass red and white. Butr I agree Michael get some wig wags for your headlights. One of the first things they teach you in EVOC is that the most attention getting light is on any vehicle is the headlights. Stay safe and be sure your insurance company knows you have lights or sirens on your rig or youll be left out to dry in a wreck.

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