“Blue Lights”

hey, i dunno if i missed this but i have noticed all the police cars around the ontario area have changed there lights....why have they now included the blue lights in the sirens now? any specific reason?

Studies showed red & blue lights were more visible to drivers, and created a more noticeable reaction (ie slowing down) than red lights alone. It was introduced at the same time they put the stunt driving law through.

Previous to the change, Ontario was the only Province without the blue/red configuration. All marine units were completely blue.

Globally, blue is recognized as a police vehicle.

There are still a few areas in the USA that still have red only....think NY is one of them

Think Ontario is only one that still allows "gov't" snow plows to use blue.

I've always been curious to know why it is that after acknowledging that blue lights are safer at night, they have not been approved for all emergency vehicles. I don't think the argument that it's to allow people to instantly recognise a car or SUV as a police vehicle is sufficient to deny all emergency personnel the same level of protection provided by blue lights. I've done plenty of roadside work and have also had my fair share of drivers come very close to my personal space. IMHO, since one needs to pull over, regarless if it's PD/Fire/EMS, you'll know it's PD when they follow you onto the shoulder....

Your thoughts? And hwybear, have you noticed a difference since the switch?

When seeing the blue and red activated at night the blue is dominant, but during the day the red is dominant.

Think the main arguement is that police around the world use BLUE. So for a tourist, immigrant etc...to any country and you see flashing blue you know it is the police, even if you can not read the lettering on the vehicle.

The biggest factor/difference is going from the halogen lighting to the LED lighting.

But, does not matter how many or big or bright the lights are when responding priority in the left lane there are always vehicles that:

- stop in that lane

- just move from the right lane and out in front of you

- wonder why someone else in front is slowing and moving right (the vehicle farther away has seen the cruiser), the vehicle then veers out and driver looking at the "slow vehicle", only NOT to see the cruiser behind

The recognition of blue worldwide is a valid point. Nonetheless, if they were serious about safety, and because red is best for day and blue for night, it should apply to all services.... don't think it'll happen thought...

hwybear wrote:But, does not matter how many or big or bright the lights are when responding priority in the left lane there are always vehicles that:

- stop in that lane

- just move from the right lane and out in front of you

- wonder why someone else in front is slowing and moving right (the vehicle farther away has seen the cruiser), the vehicle then veers out and driver looking at the "slow vehicle", only NOT to see the cruiser behind

Sorry to go off on a tangent...

Every time a driver goes to renew a licence, I think that they should have to (at the very least) do a quick written exam on some basic rules of the road.

Question #1: What should you do when you see an emergency vehicle, with its lights activated, coming up from behind?

Answering this incorrectly should produce an automatic fail and a mandatory driver re-education class to re-qualify. Then other questions should be things like "which lane should you turn into," right-of-way questions, which lane you should drive in, etc.

ditchMD wrote:The recognition of blue worldwide is a valid point. Nonetheless, if they were serious about safety, and because red is best for day and blue for night, it should apply to all services.... don't think it'll happen thought...

Internationally speaking... In some places (Barcelona), ambulances have orange lights. In Madrid, they have blue lights. The fire department ("Los Bomberos") I think had red lights. If I recall correctly, police in Thailand had red lights.