Blue Lights

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Permalink Reply by Reigec on October 7, 2009 at 3:27pm

haha, very true, missed the first truck for both calls yesterday, i rode out in the cheifs truck, damn people wouldnt pull the hell over

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Permalink Reply by Joey "BigShow" De Piano on October 5, 2009 at 10:46pm

You need to go on line to your states local laws page there you will find a listing of all traffic laws most times you can do a search for emergency lighting and sub titles as to the blue light or "warning"light section, in most cases Blue lights are permitted however if your states police depts use blue and white (like Va. ) you can not unless you are a chief officer, it is the opposite of us in NJ allow to use blue but not red as our police use red as do Chiefs, in that case red is allowed most times, the problem with Depts. allowing it or not sadly falls on some who try to pull over civilians using the lights and cause legal problems for depts. thats why the crack down, also in most cases if allowed to use the light you can only use it upto 2 towns away from response destination or under 6 miles. again this by NJ standards

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Permalink Reply by Paul Dudan on October 22, 2009 at 2:35pm

NJ law says you can use it two towns away? I haven't read that but in our dept. the rule is use ONLY in town if responding to a call.The only exception is if we are toned for mutual aid and you happen to be in that town, you can then flip on your lights to respond.

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Permalink Reply by Tyler Reinemann on October 16, 2009 at 2:08pm

In upstate NY, all you need is a liscence (duh) and a Blue Light card...ask your chief about them.

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Permalink Reply by BillySFCVFD on October 16, 2009 at 2:37pm

Adam,

Your larger FD probably has enough FFs to respond so blue/red POV lights are not worth the risk. The smaller one might need any or all to respond as quickly and safely as possible. Why do you ask about lights for Juniors? Are you one in disguise? TCSS

PS My small VFD allows what the State of TX allows, any color w/ siren but use it with caution.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Verducci on October 20, 2009 at 4:03pm

I do run lights but only to the dept that issued me the Blue LIght Permit. I live about 5 miles from the station and i have to go down a major road and through our little borough. I make the truck most of the time unless we run with a light crew. I take back country roads to my other dept and hardly see any cars anyway so i dont even need to use my lights.

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Permalink Reply by Chief Dino on October 22, 2009 at 1:22pm

TX allows Volunteers to run red lights when following TX vehicle code. The following codes apply:

502.202 GOVERNMENT OWNED VEHICLES…
541.201 AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY VEHICLES (A.E.V.)

545.156 VEHICLE APPROACHED BY A.E.V.
545.157 PASSING A.E.V.
545.365 SPEED LIMIT EXCEPTIONS
545.407 FOLLWING/OBSTRUCTING FIRE APPARATUS…
545.408 CROSSING FIRE HOSE

546.001 PERMISSIBLE CONDUCT
546.002 WHEN CONDUCT PERMISSIBLE
546.003 AUDIBLE OR VISUAL SIGNALS REQUIRED
546.004 EXCEPTIONS TO SIGNAL REQUIREMENT
546.005 DUTY OF CARE

As far as juniors go, we don't allow them on the fireground, so why do they need to rush to get there.

TCSS

Shawn

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Permalink Reply by BillySFCVFD on October 22, 2009 at 5:37pm

Chief,

In the past I've read through all the sections of the TX Transportation Code pertaining to emergency vehicles/lights and interpreted that red, blue and white lights are allowed for VFFs. The related sections are conflicting but that's what I got out of it. I run red and white lights on my POV when needed and would not recomend blue though. TCSS

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Permalink Reply by Chief Dino on October 22, 2009 at 6:21pm

My interpretation is that as long as you have red lights meeting the code anything else is gravy. I run red leds on a mount off of my headliner and if I wanted to add blue or white behind my grill, I think I would still be meeting the veh. code. I interpreted using red, white and blue as being allowed for VFDs, but not a POV used as an emergency vehicle. The code uses the wording "widely spaced laterally as practicable." Practicable can be pretty open to individual definition. I think the key in the wording is that there is no language prohibiting a color.

TCSS

Shawn

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Permalink Reply by Alan Shaw on October 22, 2009 at 1:56pm

Having run an Explorer Post, and having been involved with training of our Junior Members I can not think of any time when allowing Juniors to have these lights would be a benefit to the department. Take this and add it to the general maturity factor and there is even less reasons to do so.

In CT our Department of Labor put out a set of rules for all "Minor Firefighters" (Under 18) and specifically forbid the operation of a personal vehicle with lights or any emergency vehicle. So in this regard, it is not really our department's choice to make.

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Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on October 22, 2009 at 3:02pm

lol yeah ok

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Permalink Reply by Reigec on November 15, 2009 at 9:39pm

These discussions are a little agitating. I'm a junior firefighter and currently don't run blue lights, i haven't even bothered to ask about it, and i live 2 townships (about 8 mins from the station, on a good day.) Anyway, whats the difference if you run a blue light when your 17 or 18? There's really is none. At my department, juniors can do everything but enter the burning building, so we are considered essential personnel, and we normally have 6-8 firefighters who attend calls in the afternoon's (when we get most of our calls) so we're very short staffed and the more that respond the better, so why shouldn't we have the same privilege as the FF1's? Without us who's gonna run tools, hose, and fresh bottles to you? And, we're taking some of the work load off you in overhaul. Im not all for lighting your car up like a Christmas tree, but a simple light bar would be very helpful.

Stay Safe.

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