Wreckers & Snow Plows - "Anything But All-Amber"
- Thread starter LRGJr72
- Start date
Yeah, they've basically thrown out any kind of regulation with blue. Its actually kind of bad... I've seen plenty of traffic units with blue to the rear, red to the rear is technically only legal if they flash together and are parallel, white to the rear is explicitly illegal, but I've never seen any of these enforced and its becoming a free-for-all on pretty much every light color except red to the front lol.
Ohio DOT uses amber, green, and white on their snow plows now-
Wreckers are often involved in high-risk roadway situations. Whether it's a chaotic crash scene or simply providing roadside assistance to a disabled vehicle on a freeway. Those are arguably emergency scenarios where it is better side with caution.
Colorado - Red is the official emergency color of the state. Police, Fire and Ambulance can and most do run combos of Red/Blue/White. Aurora has a new contract ambulance service and they have all new equipment in Red/White. Funeral escort vehicles here run the three colors, these are POVs with permits. Yes, CDOT has blue BUT the rule is written (not always followed) Blue to be activated only during plow operations, otherwise only Amber will be illuminated. As a dealer/installer, I am allowed to display any color warning lights on my vehicle as well, no permit required, for demo purposes. This is written into the Colorado Revised Statues (CRS).
Have you guys ever run into police departments running only red blue on their tow trucks while towing a car? There are a few of those around here and its really confusing because they're running all red blue but not responding to an emergency, just towing a car from whatever scene and people are pulling over from them. I imagine it's also confusing at stoplights...
Who knows, as far as I think it has been like that since the 1950's. I guess one of those things, if it's not broke don't fix it. Ive never heard of it being a problem.
MoRS said:
That's definitely one of the problems you run into with tow trucks using emergency colors. Maryland State Highway Administration emergency response trucks have both red and amber lighting, and will run red lights and sirens to certain incidents, but as far as I know they're switched separately to prevent the sort of problem you're talking about.
Since living here in the Denver area I've decided that I really like seeing red/blue on all police, fire and EMS vehicles. Is blue even considered an emergency color at all or is it just red?
At this point I'm out of the Volunteer emergency services field for another few years, but am involved from time to time with special events and working with road crews. Are there any colors I am allowed to use besides yellow only? Am I allowed to use flashing white? How about hideaway strobes/LEDs in the headlights and taillights? Just got me a new truck and will be doing some hideaway installs on it, along with either an old Edge 9000 bar or B-Link for the top. (In Colorado)
Not that I've ever seen CTS in this use but there are loads of wreckers in Michigan that use amber/red. Always have been. It was also a common color combo for police agencies in Arizona in the 60s & 70s.
There's a lot of debate about that. But in Michigan wreckers have semi-emergency vehicle status. Some wreckers there even use all-red lighting. Either way it's never been a problem as far as I can tell.
In Oklahoma, Missouri, Wyoming & Kansas many wreckers use red/blue. In New Mexico the most common lighting color for wreckers is all-blue.
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New Mexico police use red/blue mostly, and the state police uses all red. Mostly I think it's just a matter of what the vehicle looks like - a sedan with a red light is one thing, but a flatbed truck with a red light and a car on the back is clearly another. Whether it has a siren or not is probably a factor as well.
A tow truck or flatbed truck with red lights could very easily be mistaken for a fire or EMS vehicle from a little bit of distance, especially at night.
Just because we Internet forum warriors can think straight about what different colors mean, doesn't mean the actual users can as well.
The different colors are to be displayed at different times:
Red is NOT to be used when the vehicle is in motion, only stationary, doing recovery/hook-up work, therefore eliminating the confusion of a emergency vehicle in motion but warranting a bit higher level of respect from approaching traffic than a sea of amber lights utilized by everything else.
Amber lights are to be activated only if the vehicle is a moving traffic hazard.
If neither of the above apply...NO lights are to be illuminated.
Over the years, A few CTS units set-up exactly how his is, have passed through these doors. We still have an all-red w/ double-sided amber flashing CTS somewhere at the warehouse, buried, of course... it was lop-sided but met the color requirement laws... oh, and it was installed backward to allow for all the mirrored flashes to the rear where wreckers needed the light show...
Red is NOT to be used when the vehicle is in motion, only stationary, doing recovery/hook-up work, therefore eliminating the confusion of a emergency vehicle in motion but warranting a bit higher level of respect from approaching traffic than a sea of amber lights utilized by everything else.
Amber lights are to be activated only if the vehicle is a moving traffic hazard.
If neither of the above apply...NO lights are to be illuminated.
Over the years, A few CTS units set-up exactly how his is, have passed through these doors. We still have an all-red w/ double-sided amber flashing CTS somewhere at the warehouse, buried, of course... it was lop-sided but met the color requirement laws... oh, and it was installed backward to allow for all the mirrored flashes to the rear where wreckers needed the light show...
I can understand the use of red or blue when responding to and working at a crash site along with emergency vehicles but not at regular recovery work.
The roofbars seen on some of the photos which are red/amber and red/blue can not be used in low priority work such as normal breakdown recovery and will in my opinion destroy the high priority value of the emergency vehicle colors such as red and blue.
I can say that here in Sweden, operators of street cars/trams and rail roads are permitted to use blue on special vehicles such as command vehicles and wreckers but only when responding to and working at accidents involving these type of vehicles but not when working with other types of vehicles such as busses.
Only amber is permitted at these occasions.
Michael
The roofbars seen on some of the photos which are red/amber and red/blue can not be used in low priority work such as normal breakdown recovery and will in my opinion destroy the high priority value of the emergency vehicle colors such as red and blue.
I can say that here in Sweden, operators of street cars/trams and rail roads are permitted to use blue on special vehicles such as command vehicles and wreckers but only when responding to and working at accidents involving these type of vehicles but not when working with other types of vehicles such as busses.
Only amber is permitted at these occasions.
Michael
What's curious is how one is supposed to interpret different combinations as as a non-fire/medical/law enforcement driver. For example, my company has its own security force whose vehicles are equipped with Amber/Red Whelen lightbars. This combination is dictated by the city who assigns this to their public service vehicles operating in the airport area (airfield maintenance) where we're located. So on the rare occasion that I see them (our security force patrol cars) with their lights on (typically in some non-emergency/non-puruit situation), I interpret that as a cautionary signal versus one of emergency authority which most other drivers do as well (akin to the tow truck description above). Similarly, funeral escort motorcycles all have green lighting which to me expresses caution but not authority, yet they are seemingly anointed the same authority as a motor unit. I'm wise enough to treat anything red and blue with deference, but some of these combinations really leave one puzzled at times....
I've been to all of the states cited above often. I've seen wreckers in all of them with lights activated in all scenarios.. arriving on scene, working on scene solo, working on scene with other response vehicles, simply transporting, etc. In all cases of all-red lights, red/amber, red/blue and all-blue. Never been an issue. I think proper allocation of certain color lights is over-dramatized. The only exception I'll agree to is the use of green on a command vehicle at the scene of a major incident. That should be abided by among a large gathering of emergency vehicles. But I know that's a slight issue among fire departments in Chicago and its suburbs (where green is typically found in the mix of standard warning lights).
I have a problem with tow truck drivers having Red Blue because most of the time they deck out the front of the wrecker with dash lights and lightbars and grill lights and intersection lights and focus everything to the front and in the rear they only have a crappy Chinese red blue bar.... AND my biggest issue is I have cought them hauling ass to the scene with the red blue activated clearing traffic confusing everyone.
Running red and blue on wreckers doesn't bother me, as long as they are sensible about it. Getting their faster in a wrecker can clear the scene faster and prevent less accidents from backups. Their are also times where a wrecker is needed to assist rescue workers. Here is a youtube channel of one in Missouri that runs sometimes with red/blue lights and siren, however they are very responsible and only use it when needed, mainly when requested by officers to step up their response. https://www.youtube.com/user/TowmaterEthan/videos
The problem is where I am located.... I am located in the Rio Grande Valley Deep South Texas near the Mexican border EXTREME amounts of corruption and drug activity down here almost everything down here is illegal or a fake just to wash cartel money.... Well they just gave the bad guys the rights to buy red blue lights and that opens up a whole other problem. I just down trust anyone down here including the random drug cartel owned tow truck.
Light colors mean nothing in Texas. There could be a wreck by your house, you could look out the window, see emergency lights, and think help has arrived, and it can just be a construction worker with blue lights, or a wrecker pulling his buddy out before the cops show up.
Light colors should be regulated to their purposes, but some people get really butt hurt over the idea.
I surely don't see the point in blue lights on non-emergency vehicles. In Ohio, the amber and green works great. They've definitely made ODOT's trucks more visible. Green is a very effective color.
Light colors should be regulated to their purposes, but some people get really butt hurt over the idea.
I surely don't see the point in blue lights on non-emergency vehicles. In Ohio, the amber and green works great. They've definitely made ODOT's trucks more visible. Green is a very effective color.
Blue
Blue is not an emergency color in TEXAS........... only Red is. You mix red with any other color then yes it becomes emergency. EVERY TEXAN even illegals know that Amber Blue White is non emergency. Now.... you allow random shady tow truck companys that open up for a few months then shut down start running red blues then you confuse everyone.
Blue is not an emergency color in TEXAS........... only Red is. You mix red with any other color then yes it becomes emergency. EVERY TEXAN even illegals know that Amber Blue White is non emergency. Now.... you allow random shady tow truck companys that open up for a few months then shut down start running red blues then you confuse everyone.
I just love how a simple thread about emergency lighting has to turn into an "I know more than you" pissing contest that doesn't really have anything to do with the OP's question.
I have been an emergency lighting nerd for as long as I can remember. I used to go through the Texas Driver's Handbook and read up on the lighting laws when I was a kid. The wording has changed since then, but the strange thing is here in Texas, the lighting laws aren't enforced very well.
It's only snowed here in town twice in the last 110 years, so we don't have snow plows down here, but tow trucks in the State of Texas should, in theory, only use a tow truck lightbar that has the stop/brake/turn signal lamps in them.
From Sec 547.305:
A vehicle may be equipped with alternately flashing lighting equipment described by Section 547.701 or 547.702 only if the vehicle is:
Some of the laws are also Even state vehicles do not conform to the lighting laws. While some laws are specific, there are some that are vague, particularly when dealing with non-emergency vehicles. TXDoT vehicles use a combination of amber and blue lightbars on a lot of their maintenance equipment, although there is no law that allows the amber/blue combination to be used. This has given some private construction companies the free license to have amber/blue lights on their construction rigs as well. Private construction vehicles also display amber/white to the front when white is not allowed for use on non-emergency vehicles. Some municipal traffic maintenance vehicles have also been using the TXDoT amber/blue combination despite them not being emergency vehicles, and don't even get me started on all the rent-a-cop security vehicles down here that have blue lightbars on them as well.
Lighting laws need to be rewritten, or at the very least revamped, since emergency lighting and LED lighting is becoming more accessible to the general public. It is getting easier and easier to be a whacker around here, and there aren't too many people who do anything about it.
I have been an emergency lighting nerd for as long as I can remember. I used to go through the Texas Driver's Handbook and read up on the lighting laws when I was a kid. The wording has changed since then, but the strange thing is here in Texas, the lighting laws aren't enforced very well.
It's only snowed here in town twice in the last 110 years, so we don't have snow plows down here, but tow trucks in the State of Texas should, in theory, only use a tow truck lightbar that has the stop/brake/turn signal lamps in them.
From Sec 547.305:
A vehicle may be equipped with alternately flashing lighting equipment described by Section 547.701 or 547.702 only if the vehicle is:
- a school bus.
- an authorized emergency vehicle;
- a church bus that has the words “church bus” printed on the front and rear of the bus so as to be clearly discernable to other vehicle operators;
- a tow truck while under the direction of a law enforcement officer at the scene of an accident or while hooking up to a disabled vehicle on a roadway; or
- a tow truck with a mounted light bar, which has turn signals and stop lamps in addition to those required by Sections 547.322, 547.323, and 547.324, Transportation Code.
Some of the laws are also Even state vehicles do not conform to the lighting laws. While some laws are specific, there are some that are vague, particularly when dealing with non-emergency vehicles. TXDoT vehicles use a combination of amber and blue lightbars on a lot of their maintenance equipment, although there is no law that allows the amber/blue combination to be used. This has given some private construction companies the free license to have amber/blue lights on their construction rigs as well. Private construction vehicles also display amber/white to the front when white is not allowed for use on non-emergency vehicles. Some municipal traffic maintenance vehicles have also been using the TXDoT amber/blue combination despite them not being emergency vehicles, and don't even get me started on all the rent-a-cop security vehicles down here that have blue lightbars on them as well.
Lighting laws need to be rewritten, or at the very least revamped, since emergency lighting and LED lighting is becoming more accessible to the general public. It is getting easier and easier to be a whacker around here, and there aren't too many people who do anything about it.