Blue lights overkill
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2016 6:46 am
At a country crossroads, after dark, I came upon the scene of an incident - highly visible because three emergency vehicles were present, each with blue and red lights flashing, a police car front and rear and an ambulance in the middle. I approached from a minor road to turn right a few yards away from the incident which, once I had turned, would be on my left. I could see figures moving around, in reflective jackets, but the lights were so blinding that I could not make out detail. To my left and right, 2 other cars had stopped on their approach and the three of us sat there wondering what to do (I'm surmising that they were hesitant for the same reason I was). Among the figures I could see was one standing still beside the ambulance in the centre of it all. My guess (correctly as it turned out) was that this was probably an officer directing traffic. I raised my eyes to look for an upraised arm and was immediately further dazzled by the ambulance lights which aligned perfectly with my line of vision. I and the other drivers (approaching from 3 directions between us) sat there for several seconds immobile while the figure in the centre moved slightly in what might have been an agitated manner but all we could see was a reflective vest and a shadowy pair of legs beneath. Again, I surmised (again correctly) that the officer was trying to get one of us to go through, but could not be sure - or of which one was being called.
Cautiously, I edged out into the junction, the other two cars remaining stationary, and moved at a crawl toward the scene. As I got closer I could make out the that the officer was facing me and beckoning me on.
It seemed pretty clear to me that she did not realise the problem we were all having, and it might be helpful to tell her. The car behind was tentatively starting to follow my lead and the one ahead remained stationary, so all was safe from that point of view. As we drew alongside the officer, I lowered my window and we exchanged a few words:
'I think it might help you to know that the blue lights on the ambulance are dazzling us and making your signals invisible.'
'I know, but if we don't have them on . . .'
'Well, I thought it would be helpful for you to be informed of it.
'Thank you'.
I felt that to prolong the conversation would be counter-productive - it was clearly a stressful position to be in and drivers stopping to argue the toss can seriously increase the red mist effect, so I then continued through. Hopefully, the information would filter through and be acted upon. But it did crystallise a concern I've had for a long time about the overkill in the use of blue lights. It was only after I had left that I realised the significance of 'I know, but' - if she knew she could not be clearly seen, why so reluctant to do something about it - and what made her think that turning off just that one set of lights would make things any worse?
This was a pretty quiet rural road. Drivers approaching from front and rear had a good long view of the road and would have had no difficulty in seeing the need for caution. Drivers approaching, like me, from the two minor roads would be slowing for the give-way signs and have ample time to register the information.
I could see the point of the front and rear vehicles having lights going to ensure visibility from both ends - but the real problem was the ambulance, set between 2 police cars, each showing at least four lights each way, and the officer's raised hand rendered invisible by proximity to the lights on the ambulance roof. I really cannot see any rationale for leaving those lights going.
Roadcraft says very little about the use of blue lights at the scene, other than that they might protect officers working there - which a reasonable number of them certainly would - but the additional ones just created so much dazzle that they actually compromised that safety.
this is a particularly graphic example of something that others may also have noticed about the sheer number of lights fitted to emergency vehicles and frerquestnly used all at once - one can hardly help getting the impression that there is a certain pleasure being taken in simply using all the kit. The use of co-ordinated flashing headlamps is another example of it - with 2 or more lights on the roof and a couple more in the grille, what further purpose does that serve, except to mask the direction indicators, depriving motorists of vital information about where the driver intends to go.
This officer (and others at the scene) were clearly blissfully unaware of the danger that was being caused and ended that they themselves might be in. I left, hoping that the reluctance of other drivers to follow their signals might eventually wake them up to my warning - but it does seem to me there's a need for training, and possibly something in the next edition of Roadcraft.
Cautiously, I edged out into the junction, the other two cars remaining stationary, and moved at a crawl toward the scene. As I got closer I could make out the that the officer was facing me and beckoning me on.
It seemed pretty clear to me that she did not realise the problem we were all having, and it might be helpful to tell her. The car behind was tentatively starting to follow my lead and the one ahead remained stationary, so all was safe from that point of view. As we drew alongside the officer, I lowered my window and we exchanged a few words:
'I think it might help you to know that the blue lights on the ambulance are dazzling us and making your signals invisible.'
'I know, but if we don't have them on . . .'
'Well, I thought it would be helpful for you to be informed of it.
'Thank you'.
I felt that to prolong the conversation would be counter-productive - it was clearly a stressful position to be in and drivers stopping to argue the toss can seriously increase the red mist effect, so I then continued through. Hopefully, the information would filter through and be acted upon. But it did crystallise a concern I've had for a long time about the overkill in the use of blue lights. It was only after I had left that I realised the significance of 'I know, but' - if she knew she could not be clearly seen, why so reluctant to do something about it - and what made her think that turning off just that one set of lights would make things any worse?
This was a pretty quiet rural road. Drivers approaching from front and rear had a good long view of the road and would have had no difficulty in seeing the need for caution. Drivers approaching, like me, from the two minor roads would be slowing for the give-way signs and have ample time to register the information.
I could see the point of the front and rear vehicles having lights going to ensure visibility from both ends - but the real problem was the ambulance, set between 2 police cars, each showing at least four lights each way, and the officer's raised hand rendered invisible by proximity to the lights on the ambulance roof. I really cannot see any rationale for leaving those lights going.
Roadcraft says very little about the use of blue lights at the scene, other than that they might protect officers working there - which a reasonable number of them certainly would - but the additional ones just created so much dazzle that they actually compromised that safety.
this is a particularly graphic example of something that others may also have noticed about the sheer number of lights fitted to emergency vehicles and frerquestnly used all at once - one can hardly help getting the impression that there is a certain pleasure being taken in simply using all the kit. The use of co-ordinated flashing headlamps is another example of it - with 2 or more lights on the roof and a couple more in the grille, what further purpose does that serve, except to mask the direction indicators, depriving motorists of vital information about where the driver intends to go.
This officer (and others at the scene) were clearly blissfully unaware of the danger that was being caused and ended that they themselves might be in. I left, hoping that the reluctance of other drivers to follow their signals might eventually wake them up to my warning - but it does seem to me there's a need for training, and possibly something in the next edition of Roadcraft.