When were wig-wag flashers first used for headlights and taillights?

Jun 4, 2012
34
New England
Forgive me if I've posted this in the wrong forum, but I've had this question on my mind for a few years: when did emergency vehicles first start using wig-wag flashers for the headlights and taillights?
 
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Da-Sarge

Member
Feb 27, 2020
393
Canada
I think the headlight flasher started in the 70s but tail lights i think in the 80s or 90s i remember seeing old 70s police cars and fire trucks equipped with the headlight flashers
 

Nolines

Member
Apr 5, 2018
1,678
Margate, FL
When people started opening and closing each eye independent of the other and said Hey!! What if we could make vehicles do this!!!
But I could be wrong
 

Pete L.

Member
May 21, 2010
2,575
Virginia (south/central)
70's for wig-wag headlights. I remember using old school bus flashers and multi-pole switches
to make it work (we had limited budgets back then).
Not sure on the tail light ones.
 

CHIEFOPS

Member
Jan 24, 2011
1,532
NYC
Alternating headlight flashers surely go back to the 70s if not the 60s.
I think Sound-Off introduced taillight flashers with the Traffic Backer circa 1990.
 

RyanZ71

Member
Jun 14, 2011
1,001
Denver, Colorado
Yup what people have posted, I have heard of headlight and even taillight wig-wags being used as far back as the 1960s. But the mid-80s is when they really started to take off. To this day, I often will notice the alternating headlights on an emergency vehicle before I notice the emergency red and blue lights.
 
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RyanZ71

Member
Jun 14, 2011
1,001
Denver, Colorado
Yup, I remember those as well. The Dodge Diplomat/Plymouth Grand Fury saw those with some agencies in the 80s...

And if that is not enough, perhaps even the marker lights wig-wagging, remember this one from Ferris Buler's day off? <evil grin> Fast forward to the 2:02 mark if you don't want to watch all of it. What a great movie.

 

801

Member
Jul 14, 2014
679
NV
First say HLF in the late 70's in CA. CHP experimented with flashing both headlights together and wig way.
 

Tango7

Member
Jul 7, 2020
186
Chicago Metro Area
The instructions for the original Unitrol include using it for flashing headlamps and taillights, and that was in the 1970's IIRC.
 

CHIEFOPS

Member
Jan 24, 2011
1,532
NYC
The instructions for the original Unitrol include using it for flashing headlamps and taillights, and that was in the 1970's IIRC.
Yeah I guess the highbeam overide trigger could signal the brakes. Or a relay to kill the flasher because otherwise the reverse lights would stay on too?
 

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