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Beacons on Police Cars
Why do beacons on Police cars flash Blue and Red lights? There is practical advantage
of using two colors for high intensity lights on police car beacons. Blue
is easier to see during daytime and red more clearly discerned at night.
Blue also is chosen for its long association with police in US (e.g: blue
lights in front of police stations, blue uniforms in many states) and
because of its high daylight visibility. Red has long been a symbol of
warning and danger and a signal to stop. No other emergency service uses
blue in its beacon. Firefighters and ambulances use red. Construction
and emergency transport vehicles (towing etc.) use yellow or amber. Only
police beacons are two-colored. Some states/cities have experimented with
all-Red beacons (e.g NY capital city Albany, where I am on a visit currently), while
some cities have tried with all-Blue (e.g our Chicago police) beacons. However,
the most common is Right-Blue, Left-Red beacon.
Why are the blue lights on Passenger's side and red on Driver's side? It is so that the driver
being pursued (the soon-to-be-a-ticket-recipient :-)) can better see it
in his/her rear-view or side-view mirror. People are conditioned to stop
for a red light. This is the most efficient way to signal the driver of
a car in front of Mama's car to stop. The LA police dept (which has to
handle huge traffic safety and other crimes) uses an amber light on the
rear of Mama's car which is activated by an on-off switch. We are also
conditioned to think of a yellow light as a caution light. In this case,
cars behind the police vehicle are being cautioned by the amber lights
to slow down because police activity is taking place!
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FAQ
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information provided in these FAQ’s is deemed to be accurate by the author.
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