Emergency & Warning Lighting

When people think of emergency and warning lights, in nine out of ten cases the first images that come to mind are police cars or urgent medical services vehicles. And this is no wonder since all these vehicles are equipped with these devices. They are a must-have for such machines and used to warn other road users of potential hazards or crisis situations. Operating in tandem with a siren or without it, emergency and warning lights allow different municipal, law enforcement, and medical services to save a significant amount of time, which is often vital for someone's survival.

Special Blinkers for Special Vehicles

It goes without saying that everyone can purchase emergency and warning lights, but not everyone can use them. Most pieces of such equipment are not allowed for use by civilians in their private transport. These devices are the prerogative of different services, including:

• police
• fire and rescue brigades
• ambulances
• special forces
• utility equipment

First responders need to distinguish themselves on the road while they are on the way to a place with a critical situation to improve public safety. Such vehicles usually use red and/or blue warning lamps, however, green, yellow/amber, and even purple lights are also recognized as special signals in many states.

Flash and Strobe

Emergency and warning lights can be roughly divided into several groups, including flashing lamps and strobe ones. Flashing warning signals can be most commonly seen on ambulances, fire engines, and police cars. These vehicles are allowed to drive much faster compared to other road users, given that they are moving in response to a dangerous or critical situation. Thanks to the use of flashing lights these machines can be easily seen and noticed by other motorists long before they approach, which gives other drivers and pedestrians enough time to react to a hazardous situation. As for strobe lights, they are also widely used by different emergency services and first responders, helping them differentiate their vehicles from others on the road.

Not So Urgent Service

Intended for use by different service cars, SUVs, trucks, and vans, warning blinking signals can also be found in taxis, school buses, as well as commercial street traffic. They are mainly used to differentiate these vehicles from other motorists and make them more visible to other road occupants. These lamps almost never come in red or blue, since these colors are forbidden for use unless given special permission. When it comes to mounting locations, such equipment can be found almost anywhere on the exterior, including the grille, fenders, doors, roof, and even underneath. The first one is the easiest to install, however, it is not intended to be used all by itself. Grille mounted lights make the service vehicle more visible to other drivers, motorcycle riders, and passersby.

Make Sure It Is Legal

Despite the fact that most emergency and warning lights are not allowed for private use, you can purchase them for your privately-owned vehicle if you're going to use this equipment on your own land and beyond public roads. Thus, many people, especially truck owners, add different types of strobes to their stock machines in order to make them stand out from the rest on the road. If you're also going that way, make sure to check the legality of the aftermarket strobe lights you are about to purchase. There are several common rules for most states regarding the use of such products. In most cases, it is a matter of the color and brightness of the lamps. The colors which are different to the ones used by emergency services and first responders, for example, white strobe lights, should be legal in most states, given that their brightness does not overcome the brightness of other major signals in your car, truck, or SUV like, say, your brake lights.