Laws requiring civilians to give right of way to curtosey lights

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Permalink Reply by Brandon Eichenlaub on October 18, 2009 at 1:24am

I agree if we are responding in our POV however our large Red trucks do tend to hog the road a little bit and they should give us a little room....

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Permalink Reply by kris on March 28, 2009 at 10:55pm

i like the idea for mandated law, but at the same time the only way this would work is if it became a law, nation wide with the specific colors being agreed upon. white for ems, blue for fire, green for commander, amber for hazards etc etc instead of each state having its own confusing set of laws..

part of the other problem is people abusing there power, i see a lot of cops who roll up to the light flip on the little switch and haul ass for 100 ft then drive like normal. for some reason i see these exact problems plaguing the system. i like it when the engine runs sirens around here its quiet so a siren goes along ways, we don't use a Q or a power call cause there isn't a need just wail and the air horn if the light turns red when its busy...

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Permalink Reply by Eddie Rogers on June 28, 2009 at 6:31pm

I think anytime you use the term "courtesy" light instead of emergency light you open a huge can of worms. In Mississippi for example we are allowed to use red for fire and most cops use blue. Medic units are a combination of red amber and white. With volunteers in their POV, "courtesy" lights are "just asking for permission" to go by and proceed. We (fire service) are doing a great service to our respective communities, but their are too many folks who have and will continue to abuse the laws and regs to try and make a law concernig the use of courtesy light, the best we can do is educate the public. We try to bring this up in any of our PR work with adults and even teenagers who are driving age, about what courtesy lights mean and what to do if you are in front of or meet someone with them on. I understand the arguments about a code blue or a structure with entrapment, but I go back to training for the answer their. "RESCUER SAFETY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT"

Just my 2 cents.

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Permalink Reply by Gregory R Bailey on August 25, 2009 at 1:02pm

In SC it has allways been that way. There are state guidelines a to Red lights and sirens, some differnace with blue lights (law enforcemnet). But a lot of people have no idea what to do. I have seen them sighted by law enforcement for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle. There is no differance paid or Vol, truck,ambulace or properly equipt POV

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Permalink Reply by Dean Shrider on August 26, 2009 at 3:44am

Ok I am going to hit on several points here in Ohio if we have a red lights on our pov we must get a vehicle inspection done every year and sent in to the state then the state sends us back a sticker which goes into our windshield markinf it as a state certified emergency vehicle. You dont want to run hot to all runs like a grass/field fire. We had a run about 6 weeks ago that was just a field fire (take your time its just a field) by the time we got there it had turned into a multiple structure fire with a house and barn being involved with an elderly bed riden person in the home. You dont know what is an emergency till you get there so we safe use common sence and think that all runs are an emergency because you dont know what you have till you get there. That field fire could of been caused by an overturned farm tractor in a ditch with someone under it. Who knows if its an emergency without being there? You can be safe and run hot just use common sense.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Shaw on October 10, 2009 at 8:26am

Can anyone show me the phrase "Courtesy Light" in any state statute? I know it does not appear in Connecticut's statues. We in the fire service need to change our critical thinking about these lights before we can ask the public to change theirs. In CT the difference for pulling over is not in the color of the light but in the addition of an audible warning device (siren). However, public service announcements like "See a Blue Light - Move to the Right" would do a great deal to encourage the public to yield right of way to volunteer firefighters.

The public, in most cases, neither knows or cares what color a light is, with the possible exception of amber. They will pull over for anything they think they have to, but then comes some volunteer firefighter talking about courtesy lights and the lack of legal authority they have, and the public calms down and realizes that we must not really want them to pull over after all. If we stop referring to them as courtesy lights and start calling them what they are: warning lights, we might just make some progress on the public education front.

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Permalink Reply by Brandon Eichenlaub on October 17, 2009 at 12:54am

he is absolutley right. They are warning lights and he is right that those words will help us make progress with the public.

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Permalink Reply by Brandon Eichenlaub on October 17, 2009 at 12:50am

Here we run Code 3 on every call, simply to show law enforcement that we are responding to a call and not just speeding down the highway. It is not mandatory that cars pull over for us but most of the time they do. Usually if we are on the interstate we wil stay in the left lane to minimize our affect on traffic. As i said it is not mandatory that they pull over but they will get a hefty fine for passing us while we are Code 3.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Grove on October 20, 2009 at 10:01pm

Ive been in the fire service for almost 13 years, Ive done My share of stupid, dangerous things. I run a blue light in Pennslyvania, which motorists are not required toyeald the right of way for, and which I have to respond to the call at the posted speed limit. but what do yu do when your responding to the scene of a working fire in a commercial building and have a motorist holding you up going 30mph in a 45 mph? to many people in pennslyvania know you dont have to yield the right of way for blue lights

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Permalink Reply by Fred Cummings, Jr. on October 23, 2009 at 3:56pm

Here in MA we are issued red light permits through the RMV. The Fire Chief requests our driver history and if he deems it appropriate he then send the application in to them. They don't give us special powers by any means. The other motorists do NOT have to yield for us, however they are very courteous in that matter. The displaying of lights is just to request the right of way, and yes we have to abide by all m/v laws. We are not allowed use sirens either.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas McBride on November 13, 2009 at 9:08pm

As a probie Vollie from rural Ny, the laws we have for a blue light on a POV are exactly the same as a normal vehicle. I believe the law also states that a Blue light (fire POV) and, Green light (EMS POV) are only curtosey lights, the general public knows this and if they see us do tend to pull over. I have only had a few times when the general public did not move for one reason of another. Most of the time normal traffic flow is more than fast enough, as they travel as much as 5 to 10 mph over the posted speed limit anyway. I also find as I grow acustome to responding, I have learned which roads to use and not to use. I have also learned that most of the time I can travel faster with out my blue lights running.

So I guess I would have to say NO I don't believe we need a law mandating the public to pull over for curtosey lights as it is not much of an issue if common sence is used in responding.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Lundquist on November 17, 2009 at 8:47pm

Hello Ben,
This law is a must. Just think about it if they didn't pull over and how much of a danger that would cause.

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