Police lights and emergency lighting are used in many ways on emergency vehicles to alert drivers and signal them to move out of the way, pull over and stop, or just to let them know there is an emergency vehicle on the road. What you choose to use on the car and the options available can allow you to tailor the lighting to be most effective and do the job you need when you activate the lights.
Light Placement
Emergency or police lights installed on a vehicle must be positioned so drivers can see them when you approach from behind or are parked along the road. One of the most effective lighting systems is a strobe bar mounted on top of the emergency vehicle and has warning lights in the front and rear of the bar.
You can control the lights separately on most of these lightbars, so you can use them to warn people of an issue on the road or turned on fully to get a driver's attention in front of you. If the vehicle is larger than a standard car, lighting is also sometimes needed down low so drivers can see it in their mirrors, and this can sometimes be the case with wreckers and fire apparatus because they are so tall.
Grill or bumper mounting lighting can be used to correct this issue but typically still require some more extensive lighting system for distance warning and visibility from the side and rear.
Lighting Options
Emergency and police light bars often come with options you may want on your setup. White lights facing the front of the vehicle, called takedown lights, are used to light up the area in front of you when you are parked. Police often use these lights for vehicle stops, while wreckers and fire apparatus may use them as scene lights to see better when working at the scene of an accident.
Side spotlights are another great options that can be integrated into newer light bar systems and allow the use of extremely bright lights off the side of the vehicle. Spotlights can be an excellent tool for finding an address on a dark road, searching for an accident in the countryside, or as a work light at a scene that requires some additional lighting.
Some lighting systems have options to change the light flashing pattern to direct traffic around a scene. There are even programmable emergency and police lights available if you are willing to pay a premium price for them. If you need other features on your lights, talk with the manufacturer or their representative to determine what else you can add to make the lights more effective in your situation.
For more information on police lights, contact a company near you.
