When it comes to emergency vehicle equipment, there are a lot of things to know about. This kind of equipment is fitted into an emergency vehicle such as a police car, ambulance, fire truck, and the likes. It comes in various forms, from those extra bright flashing lights to beacon lights and traffic directors, and are different from standard non-emergency vehicles. One of the most common items includes visual warning devices.
Since emergency vehicles are very likely to get in dangerous situations, particularly those that pertain to road traffic accidents, they have to be equipped with the right warning devices. In the same way, they are needed to have access to any emergency incidents as fast as possible. This is why they are immune to traffic laws in all countries and in order to respond to emergencies, the responders must be aware of how to direct the traffic properly. They can use a variety of traffic directors such as arrow boards and sticks to let the other drivers be aware of the situation.
The only exception to their exception is the railroad crossing because emergency vehicles are not able to provide warning in time to stop the train so that they can pass through. No matter how great their traffic directors are, they simply don’t have the capacity to stop a passing train and have to wait until it’s through. But for other types of vehicles, their immunity to traffic laws stands.
Visual warnings that emergency vehicles can use come in two types: passive warning or active warning. The active warning takes the form of flashing lights such as those with light bars and beacons which are intended to get the attention of motorists and other road users. Other non-active warnings include directional warning arrows or arrow sticks that direct traffic to various directions. They are mostly found on the rear or on the back of the vehicle’s lightbar.
Directional Warning Arrows or arrow sticks - A strip of lights (typically amber or yellow) which light up in sequence to direct traffic to the right, left, or around both sides of an emergency vehicle. They may be found mounted on the back of a lightbar, on a car's package shelf (shining out the rear window) or on some other conspicuous location on the rear of a vehicle.
Information Matrix Signs - These special active visual warnings are used to convey words to vehicles approaching from behind the emergency vehicle and often carry messages such as "Police, Stop '' or other relevant message. Some systems allow only pre programmed messages, where others can be fully customised.
Many governments list specific requirements for emergency vehicle lighting. These requirements may address the colour, location and intensity/visibility of the lights, and whether they should flash or burn steadily. Laws also may regulate what vehicles may display these lights, and under what circumstances they may do so.
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