CFD125 said:Most, not all, of the eastern seaboard used exclusively blue to the front years ago. This included FL, GA, NC, SC, VA, CT, MA, NH, ME, VT.
The only New England state to run all red was, and still is Rhode Island. They have some blue on the lightbars in Rhode Island now, but they rarely turn those modules on.
I had the same type of questions when I moved to Milpitas, Ca. in 1980. What was up with red lights forward, and an amber flasher to the rear???
And on most of the Twinsonics, they wouldn't even turn on the rotators. Just the front steady, and rear flasher.
Back in the day, the only Mass agency to run red to the front was the Turnpike Authority, and the MDC police (Metropolitan District Commission...Also Mad Dog Cops)
Just a minor correction. VASP utilized red lights from it's inception in 1942 (prior to that it was the Division of Motor Vehicles) right up until the mid 80's. All police vehicles (local, state and county) utilized red lights by state edict (I worked for both the Richmond, VA and Virginia Commonwealth University departments in the early 80's while in college) until police organizations lobbied the state in 1984 to allow blue lights lights as an addition to/or totally replace red. Once the former edict was rescinded, blue lights began showing up around 1985 as departments modified exisiting lights or purchased replacement equipment with blue as the primary color.
The first VASP cars to sport blue lights were their Ford LTD/Crown Victorias in 1985 which utilized Federal Signal CJ-184 beacons (with their red domes swapped for blue). Older cars were retro-fitted with blue domes. Some VASP cruisers retained red "lollipop" flashers behind the grille as a secondary warning device to the roof beacon.
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