We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to create a change in the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations to allow preserved Emergency vehicles including Police, Fire, Ambulance customs and all the other listed emegency vehicles to be allowed to have blue warning lamps fitted to their vehicles provided they are covered up securely so that no blue light is visible on the highway, unless authorised by a Police Officer.”
Details of Petition:
“In the UK there are literally thousands of preserved emegency vehicles owned by private individuals and enthusiast organisations. These vehicles are taken to classic car shows, and Police organised shows and events throughout the year. Up until yesterday,when someone was prosecuted and found guilty, the vehicle owners relied on the discretion of the Police, in turning a blind eye to a particular regulation in the Road Transport Lighting Regs which creates the offence of having a blue light fitted on any motot vehicle. There is no getout even when the light is covered up and not visible as such. This regulation was never meant to be as restrictive and it is asked that the regulation be amended so that is not an offence have such a light fitted provided it is covered up on the highway.”
· Read the petition
· Petitions homepage
Read the Government’s response
Blue warning beacons are intended to provide emergency vehicles with a means to inform other traffic of their presence and to assist in their safe progress through the traffic when responding to an incident. Whether or not switched on, they help to identify vehicles that are being operated by the emergency services and so the general public can have confidence they are dealing with a genuine representative of the service.
The wider use of these lights will eventually undermine the benefit they provide to legitimate users, hindering their ability to respond to an emergency and potentially endangering the safety of the public. Deliberate misuse of blue beacons to give the impression a vehicle is being operated by the emergency services could also increase if strict controls on their fitment are not in place.
We do not expect genuine owners of preserved emergency vehicles to abuse blue lights fitted to their vehicles. One solution would be to permit covered blue beacons, although this could potentially increase the misuse by non-emergency services. A change to the regulations must also be enforceable and in many cases it will be difficult to determine whether or not a vehicle is a genuine preserved vehicle or has been modified to deliberately deceive.
There is no simple, quick fix, of the regulations that avoids our concerns over misuse. The current regulations permit preserved emergency vehicles to be used with blue lights at shows provided they are removed before the vehicles are driven on the public roads and so we do not intend to change the regulations at this time. We will however explore with representatives of the police and other interested organisations whether there is an acceptable solution that can be considered for future implementation.
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