Placement of Lighting & Lightheads

[Jman423]

How important is it to pay attention to placement of lighting (lightbars, lightheads, beacons, arrow bars, etc...)?

Discuss!

Please keep it clean and organized, this forum section is heavily moderated to keep information organized. We're going to use content from these discussions to compile a helpful guide for users seeking information about products in this industry.

 

[runesson]

I like this new useful section of the forum

I wrote a post on the subject some time ago: 

It's "old", but offers some thoughts on the subject, which may be useful to some.

 

[Atherton32-4]

Is there a purpose in putting lights in the side window if you're not blocking roads. ive heard multiple people say this that mounting lights to the side provide little intersection protection but are only needed for blocking roads... i semi agree because the point was made that by the time theyd see a light in a rear side window youre already in the intersection and its the fob of the off axis light from the front to clear an intersection.

 

[foxtrot5]

Additional warning like lights in rear side-facing windows is nice to have but not always necessary. You're right that using them for intersection warning is more or less useless, but on a traffic control car they're great.

 

[Sparky_911]

This is focused more towards POV's...Placement is very important.  Some examples:

FRONT.  The idea here is to get maximum warning light into the mirrors of the vehicle in front of you. That being said if your vehicle is say a car then adding warning to the low-to-the-ground fog lights may not be as effective as in a full size truck or SUV.  Oncoming traffic should see you coming fairly easy if the drivers are paying attention.  Also the human eye sees better vertically than horizontally so having different levels of light spaced out up/down (grille, dash, RVM or roof bar) can be more effective with less lighting if you are on a limited budget or restricted by law.  Another thing to remember is that white light is brightest on the color spectrum and will wash out colored warning lights so keep that in mind when finding homes for grille lights.

SIDE/INTERSECTION.  For POV's the best intersection warning I've found is clear strobes in the front corners of the headlight housings, seconded by License plate brackets.  Draws attention to the rest of your warning package.  As for the side (B post, truck tool box, etc.) its best to keep the warning close to eye level of other motorists, think between 3-5ft from the ground when possible.  When doing an install I sit in a chair about 40-50ft back from the vehicle and move around it to get an idea of where the warning is going to hit other drivers at distance.

REAR.  This is very important if you respond directly to scenes a lot and are parked on or near the roadway or are assisting with traffic control.  I won't get into usage (turn off rear warning when using an arrowstick), just placement.  If you use a separate amber traffic directional device, then it is best placed up high and away from other colors of warning so it can be seen by motorists further away.  Thus giving them plenty of warning that something isn't right ahead and hopefully they slow down and move over before hitting your vehicle.  When placing other warning lights the vertical thing as mentioned in the FRONT part above plays a small part here as well.   Also keep in mind of the width of your vehicle,  best to place lighting as far to each side of your vehicle as possible when facing rear (or in any aspect really) so motorists at night don't mistake your 1 ton pickup for a compact car.