in the light of what i saw today and was told with the van inbedded in the back of the broken down tanker on the a1 at newark , isnt it time some blue flashing lights were fitted to the back of are trucks only to be used in the event of a break down on a carriage way , i know its only meant to be coppers who have them but like this morning soon as i saw blue lights flashing in the distance i knew something was going off , soon as you see blue lights anywhere you know theres a problem so take more notice .
i cant believe with all the high tec stuff avaliable youve still got drivers trying to warn on comming traffic of the danger ahead by standing at the side of a carriage way in the middle of the night trying to wave the traffic out round there truck .
i know people will say you should be alert to any danger but we all know middle of night , your knackered how you dont always pick things up ,
doubt itll happen but i cant believe its not a major safety issue that wants looking at
r.i.p to the van driver
RIP to the van driver? I have the opposite take on it. I think thank god he hit a wagon and killed himself rather than hit a small car and maybe kill its occupants. Blue flashing lights? Are you mad? WHat happened to people taking responsability for their own actions, i.e. driving at a speed whereby you can safley stop? Putting the onus on wagons to have blue flashing lights is ridiculous, what happens if you don’t carry them one day or they don’t work and someone ploughs into your arse end, will you then get the blame because your emergency lights whern’t working? And don’t start with the ‘you know how it is’ nonsense, i do know how it is, you drive to fast to stop and you kill yourself. Thats how it is.
The only reason people react to the blue flashing lights the way they do is they know a copper is underneath them!
If truckers had them do you think they’d still get the respect they do now?
It’d probably just end up with more people angry towards us and generally spreading hate about the industry.
Orange flashing lights for a brakedown…yes, but not blue!
Why not make it mandatory for everyone to carry a warning triangle, fitted with an orange beacon, that has to be placed at every broken down vehicle, makes much more sense.
Alex
Blue flashing lights have always been for emergency vehicles only and that’s the way it should stay, as it is now when you see blue flashing lights you know to be on the lookout for an emergency vehicle, make something too common and complacency sets in and I see enough vehicles blocking the path of emergency vehicles as it is without having them fitted to every vehicle on the road.
Having said that it may be an idea to have another look at hazard warning lights to see if they can be improved to make them more intrusive into peoples awareness, something more like the flashing ambers that’s fitted to breakdown trucks but fitted into the rear of the vehicle rather than on top.
Scarab:
The only reason people react to the blue flashing lights the way they do is they know a copper is underneath them!If truckers had them do you think they’d still get the respect they do now?
It’d probably just end up with more people angry towards us and generally spreading hate about the industry.
The funny thing is, when HATO’s first came out, everyone did think they where coppers and slowed down behind them. Thats why people call them plastic police now. You’l find the trucks that hate them most are the lads whose trucks can ‘go a bit’ and they spent six months or so slowing down behind them !!
Scarab:
Orange flashing lights for a brakedown…yes, but not blue!Why not make it mandatory for everyone to carry a warning triangle, fitted with an orange beacon, that has to be placed at every broken down vehicle, makes much more sense.
Just like other parts of the EU !!
tachograph:
Having said that it may be an idea to have another look at hazard warning lights to see if they can be improved to make them more intrusive into peoples awareness, something more like the flashing ambers that’s fitted to breakdown trucks but fitted into the rear of the vehicle rather than on top.
I’m all for this idea. We could make the vehicles indicators al flash at the same time and call them “hazard warning lights”. I’m sure it would work. It would also protect people in small vehicles from being hit as well as stopping people from driving into the back of lorries? Yeah, i think its a good idea.
I would like to know which idiot decided that hazard warning lights should be the same as the indicators - IMO flashing brake lights would be more effective - red for danger
ROG:
I would like to know which idiot decided that hazard warning lights should be the same as the indicators - IMO flashing brake lights would be more effective - red for danger
I think that hazards could be far more effective these days, if they worked with different bulbs to the indicators it should be possible to make them much brighter and flash faster so making them more obvious from a greater distance, not sure that red lights would have the same effect to be honest, basically red just isn’t bright enough or annoying enough to be sure of catching peoples attention.
M25 J17 early monday morning.An ATS van on h/s behind a truck.Van had all its flashing lights on,which on ATS vans are good LEDs.Did not stop hgv ploughing into it.The van was the size of a mini after.
Five HATO vehicles have been written off on h/s by trucks.All HATOs had flashing lights on.Wether blue,amber or red,flashing lights do not stop you from being hit by the tired,distracted or just bad,driver.
But i think all trucks should carry some warning,so when they do breakdown on dark roads,the attentive drivers can see them earlier.
The colour lights that can be displayed on a vehicle are governed by the vehicle lighting regs, the emergency services are exempt from certain regs, ie police, fire and ambo. Blood, coastguard, organ transfer are also governed under the same regs. As has already been stated, a number of our vehicles have been involved in collisions whilst all lights have been displayed. Luckily our operating procedures dictate that we stay out of the vehicle whilst dealing with an incident otherwise we could have been looking at fatalities 
here is a link to said regulations: 
Mike-C:
tachograph:
Having said that it may be an idea to have another look at hazard warning lights to see if they can be improved to make them more intrusive into peoples awareness, something more like the flashing ambers that’s fitted to breakdown trucks but fitted into the rear of the vehicle rather than on top.I’m all for this idea. We could make the vehicles indicators al flash at the same time and call them “hazard warning lights”. I’m sure it would work. It would also protect people in small vehicles from being hit as well as stopping people from driving into the back of lorries? Yeah, i think its a good idea.
Rebel:
Mike-C:
tachograph:
Having said that it may be an idea to have another look at hazard warning lights to see if they can be improved to make them more intrusive into peoples awareness, something more like the flashing ambers that’s fitted to breakdown trucks but fitted into the rear of the vehicle rather than on top.I’m all for this idea. We could make the vehicles indicators al flash at the same time and call them “hazard warning lights”. I’m sure it would work. It would also protect people in small vehicles from being hit as well as stopping people from driving into the back of lorries? Yeah, i think its a good idea.
I’ve worked on recovery for a few years now and the latest wreckers are all fitted with flashing amber strobes.
MASSIVE, massive differance to the old rotating beacons.
Lets not judge the van driver as we don’t know all the facts, a big problem with stationary vehicles in the carriageway is vehicles following another who may have seen the obstruction, only when that vehicle moves out to overtake have you then got the opportunity to react !
The emergency services were pretty clever in reserving blue lights for themselves as they can be seen for a much further distance than any other colour. Smart move,
However, there is a good idea here somewhere as there are too many red lights, amber lights already on the road, so they don’t catch any ones attention like the blue ones. The green lights as used by Doctors cars are pretty crap and they don’t cut it
Maybe a purple xenon or something like that would be the way forward?
Anything that catches peoples attention.
Anything that catches peoples attention.
Naked dancing girl at the back of every breakdown should slow things down a bit and get noticed
ROG:
Anything that catches peoples attention.
Naked dancing girl at the back of every breakdown should slow things down a bit and get noticed
You should go into politics ROG - you`d get my vote
Rog.
You, of all people, should not condone this as you are supposed to have both hands on the wheel at all times 
DoYouMeanMe?:
Rog.You, of all people, should not condone this as you are supposed to have both hands on the wheel at all times
Took me about 10 seconds to click 
- I blame my man flu 
There are so many roadworks these days that drivers get used to flashing amber lights. So much so that a lot of drivers don’t bother slowing down for them. There is a difference between roadworks and breakdowns though, roadworks generally have plenty of warning signs in advance where as breakdown vehicles and recovery vehicles only have their beacons.
Having worked in the recovery industry in the past, you’d be surprised (well perhaps not) how many drivers fail to spot the recovery vehicle with its flashing beacons until they are right on top of it.
I think that unexpected/unsigned obstructions of this nature should have different coloured warning lamps - may be RED - so that drivers take notice and extra care when passing.
DoYouMeanMe?:
The emergency services were pretty clever in reserving blue lights for themselves as they can be seen for a much further distance than any other colour. Smart move,
So the emergency services wrote the law and got the Queen to sign it all by themselves 
DoYouMeanMe?:
However, there is a good idea here somewhere as there are too many red lights, amber lights already on the road, so they don’t catch any ones attention like the blue ones. The green lights as used by Doctors cars are pretty crap and they don’t cut it
Maybe a purple xenon or something like that would be the way forward?
Anything that catches peoples attention.
Now that is a good idea, mate. I’d agree with that, but not with your first thought
Then there’s the idiot in the BMW who’s talking on his mobile phone, it’s rare he sees anything.