LED Strobes

[flango]

The motorsport outfit I work for has been sent these as a free gift from one of their suppliers and they are billed as recovery strobes but they are white? I can see the application for track use but surely these would be illegal on a road car or recovery vehicle if fitted to the screen as the instructions. Legal or not?

 

[JumboBeef]

They look blue to me..........

By the way, it's not illegal to fit any flashing light to any vehicle, including blue, but it is illegal to use them unless you have the correct reason to.

 

[flango]

They look blue to me..........

By the way, it's not illegal to fit any flashing light to any vehicle, including blue, but it is illegal to use them unless you have the correct reason to.

Nope they def ultra white, just cr*ppy photo sorry, so can you use white strobes on a recovery vehicle or an estate service car while attending I breakdown? Must admit I have never seen any

 

[JumboBeef]

They look blue to me..........

By the way, it's not illegal to fit any flashing light to any vehicle, including blue, but it is illegal to use them unless you have the correct reason to.

That'll teach me to rush a posting! What I meant to say was anyone can have (as in: loose, disconnected or covered) any colour light, including blue, but it is illegal to fit them and/or use them unless you have the correct reason to do so.

Flashing white lights (in the context you are asking about) are illegal:

You can only have a steady white light to the front and a steady red light showing to the rear of your vehicle. The exceptions to this are:


BLUE

• flashing from an emergency vehicle
• flashing or constant from a police vehicle

GREEN

• on a doctor’s car

WHITE​

• reversing lights​
• work lamps​

AMBER​

• any vehicle’s indicators
• amber pedal reflectors or pedal lights
• reflected from a registration plate
• reflected from a road clearance vehicle
• reflected from a vehicle carrying dangerous substances
• reflected on some old or heavy vehicles
• flashing amber lights on
• a road clearance vehicle
• a bin lorry
• a breakdown vehicle
• a vehicle with a 25 mph top speed
• a vehicle wider than 2.9 metres
• a roadworks vehicle
• an escort vehicle
• a Revenue and Customs vehicle
• a surveying vehicle
• a clamping or tow truck vehicle
• airport vehicles
• any other specially authorised vehicle

ANY COLOUR

• for interior lighting
• for registration plate lighting
• for taxi meter lighting
• for bus route sign lighting
• from a traffic sign attached to a vehicle
• any colour from the reflectors on a wheel of a cycle, motorbike or invalid carriage

ALSO

• white and blue chequered light from a police control vehicle
• white and red chequered light from a fire control vehicle
• white and green chequered light from an ambulance control vehicle

....and....

You can’t have a flashing light except for:

• indicators
• headlights on an emergency vehicle
• flashing lights as described above (on emergency vehicles and vehicles permitted to show other coloured flashing lights)
• a light or sign on a vehicle used for police purposes
• a green light used as an anti-lock braking indicator
• lights on a traffic sign attached to a vehicle
• flashing white lights on the front of a cycle
• flashing red lights on the back of a cycle

Info from here.

I would have thought you could fit the white strobe and use it for track use but keep it covered up/disconnected on the road.

 

[flango]

Thanks for that, that was also my understanding but good to have it confirmed. Will put them in the Track only stores and advise the supplier thay are not suitable for recovery use as they are being marketed, once again many thanks

 

[flango]

ANY COLOUR

• for interior lighting
• for registration plate lighting

Thats a very interesting one! as if you fitted certain red LED bulbs in this application they would also have a very large secondary benefit when it came to ANPR & Speed camera's

Would love to get a definitive from the RTA or lighting regs if you can actually use any colour on number plate illumination, I doubt it because of the above.

Anyone actually know?

 

[Dieselman]

Will put them in the Track only stores and advise the supplier thay are not suitable for recovery use as they are being marketed, once again many thanks

As they have been sent to a motorsport company, isn't the intended use for off road/closed road use anyway, hence white being acceptable.

A yellow tint lens would make them road legal depending on brightness. Could be good as an emergency breakdown flasher. I stopped to help a woman with a flat tyre last week and could've used one then.

Can you get any more, but in yellow.?

 

[flango]

As they have been sent to a motorsport company, isn't the intended use for off road/closed road use anyway, hence white being acceptable.

A yellow tint lens would make them road legal depending on brightness. Could be good as an emergency breakdown flasher. I stopped to help a woman with a flat tyre last week and could've used one then.

Can you get any more, but in yellow.?

Could ask the question and send the white ones back and ask for yellow as they are not legal bit cheeky I know but if you don't ask you dont get or as me mum used to say "shy bairns get nowt"

They came packaged as recovery strobes and will actually be of little use on track as the track car has built in strobes front and rear and headlight flash as it sometimes sees use as a race control / curcuit car.

On the legality of the colour of number plate lights then I have just been told it has to be white an is laid down in the RTA Here

 

[Dieselman]

And I've had a look for info on flashing lights...

Amber lights grant no priority in traffic and exist purely to advertise the vehicle's presence. The RLVR specifies several classes of vehicles which may use amber lights, such as towing, highway maintenance, pilot vehicles escorting an oversize load, and vehicles unable to travel over 25 mph[20] and fitting these lights to other vehicles is technically illegal (although these beacons are widely fitted to vehicles as wide ranging as security and ambulances).

It should also be noted that UK legislation considers all lights, reflectors and reflective material to be lights, and all items resembling special warning beacons (of any colour) must be covered and not just disconnected (as this is a separate offence)[25] while on the public highway.[26] Similarly, no distinction is made between lights mounted on light bars and those mounted anywhere else on the vehicle (e.g. headlights, indicators, brake lights) - all are covered by the same regulations.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_vehicle_lighting

 

[popuptoaster]

i got told off years ago for having a flashing yellow light on my car while i was doing deliveries around the lanes in my area in the winter when it was dark, if a cop was feeling mean you could get nicked for using one at the road side unless your are an official breakdown vehicle.

 

[219]

Pre '65 vehicles can have white flashing indicators showing to the front , and red to the rear .

I have white front indicators on the Ponton ( I like them just because I CAN have them ) even though amber lenses were an option .

Likewise , I like having red to the rear just because I can .

My Fintail has amber front indicators but red rear ones .

 

[Mr E]

It should also be noted that UK legislation considers all lights, reflectors and reflective material to be lights, and all items resembling special warning beacons (of any colour) must be covered and not just disconnected (as this is a separate offence)[25] while on the public highway.[26] Similarly, no distinction is made between lights mounted on light bars and those mounted anywhere else on the vehicle (e.g. headlights, indicators, brake lights) - all are covered by the same regulations.

[/COLOR][/I]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_vehicle_lighting

It was made very clear to me that the blue LED strobes I have cannot even be on display unless I have been called out - they even have to be put out of site on the journey home.

 

[JumboBeef]

It was made very clear to me that the blue LED strobes I have cannot even be on display unless I have been called out - they even have to be put out of site on the journey home.

Can I ask, what do you do?

 

[Mr E]

Can I ask, what do you do?

I'm a first response volunteer - as we live in the sticks it means that people can get an initial response, including intubation, defribulation, etc, for both home incidents and RTCs within minutes as opposed to the min 30 mins for an ambulance (or a scramble for the air ambulance).

So if I'm called out I'm allowed to use blue stobes on the way out, but not on the way back home.

 

[219]

We have the same rule in the Fire Service , blue lights only to be mounted on the way to an incident - should be removed for return journey .

Having said the above , it seems to be quite common practice for a lot of officers to put the light bar on the roof at the start of a duty shift and leave it there until finishing time . Certainly in our overcrowded car park at headquarters it is a way of telling others 'I'm on call , don't block me in' .

A lot of officers now have 'stealth' blue lights ( usually LED strobes ) fitted behind grilles or inside windows - either on their own private cars or on leased vehicles - I believe there is a tax advantage in having 'permanently fitted' blue lights as the vehicle is then classified as an emergency vehicle .

I just have a twin rotating beacon bolted onto a roof bar which I can clip on when called out . I don't proceed to incidents under blue light conditions , but I do use them for recognition and entry to incident grounds or for my own protection when attending RTC's . I have used them a few times for protection when I happened on the scene of RTC's whilst off-duty and stopped to assist . I don't think there is a problem as long as any use is 'reasonable' and not flagrant misuse .

 

[219]

Another exception with older models ( Pontons , Adenauers , Gullwings ) is that they have flashing headlamps as standard : the main beam flasher switch has a position which causes both main beams to flash continuously together .

Harking back to the early days of the autobahns , when these cars were so much faster than most other vehicles on the road this effectively meant " Big Merc coming - GET OUT OF THE WAY ! "

Still a nice feature to have and , like most things with older cars , if legal when the vehicle was produced , still legal today

 

[JumboBeef]

I'm a first response volunteer - as we live in the sticks it means that people can get an initial response, including intubation, defribulation, etc, for both home incidents and RTCs within minutes as opposed to the min 30 mins for an ambulance (or a scramble for the air ambulance).

So if I'm called out I'm allowed to use blue stobes on the way out, but not on the way back home.

A stirling job First Responers do to: respect

I work for the Ambulance Service, a job which requires driving A&E ambulances under blue light conditions. Can you settle an argument please?

In some of the ambulance forums I visit, there is a feeling by some that:

1/ it isn't legal for FR to use blue lights and
2/ if they can use blue lights then they cannot claim exemption as other blue light users can: speed limits, red lights etc, as per the road traffic act so there is no point.

Who told you you were allowed to use blue lights and do you claim exemption? The road traffic act states only emergency vehicles can use blue lights, and these are defined by:

An emergency vehicle is classed as a vehicle used:

• for police purposes (but not necessarily a police vehicle, e.g. search and rescue)
• for fire brigade purposes (but not necessarily a fire brigade vehicle)
• for ambulance purposes (but not necessarily an ambulance vehicle, e.g. mountain rescue)
• as an ambulance for moving sick, injured or disabled people
• by a specialist company for fire salvage work
• by the Forestry Commission for fire fighting
• by local councils for fire fighting
• for bomb disposal
• for nuclear accidents
• by the RAF mountain rescue
• by the National Blood Service
• by HM Coastguard
• for mine rescue
• by the RNLI for launching lifeboats
• for moving around human organs
• by Revenue and Customs for serious crime

...so, unless your vehicle is classed as an ambulance (and your V5 would state if it is) or used for ambulance purposes (how would you define that?), then it is not an emergency vehicle and so cannot use blue lights.

As I say, no one seems to know 100% if this is correct so I would like to hear your opinion on it (particularly as it would be your licence on the line.....)

 

[popuptoaster]

What defines an abulance though? plenty of stickered up honda accord estate ambulances round my way with blue lights on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g5g...ex-ambulance-service-honda-accord-estate.html

 

[JumboBeef]

What defines an abulance though? plenty of stickered up honda accord estate ambulances round my way with blue lights on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g5g...ex-ambulance-service-honda-accord-estate.html

If it is an ambulance, it will say ambulance on the V5.

That's a Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) in that video. It is used for medical emergency purposes only, so by law it is 'for ambulance purposes'.

As I say, there is confusion over the subject so I would love to hear from anyone who does use blue lights to hear under which law they use them legally.

 

[219]

Another common breach of lighting regs seen on our roads concerns the use of flashing white and red lights on bicycles .

Whilst is is legal to have flashing white/red LED's showing to the front/rear these can only be used as a supplement to constantly illuminated lights and may not be used on their own .

Unfortunately , many cyclists seem to be unaware of this and ride around with ONLY flashing LED's . I suppose at least it is better than no lights at all .