Maybe I've lived in a sheltered world or something, but I'm used to the idea that the flashy-blinkies on police cars are blue, and those on fire/rescue vehicles are red.

Recently, the county next door has been equipping their new police cruisers with red lights in addition to the blues. This seems odd to me, but maybe only because I'm not used to it.

Is this normal? Common? Is my little rinky-dink area a bunch of emergency-vehicle weirdos?

What's the word, SF peeps?

Question:
What's normal in your 'hood?
Red? Blue? Both?

Choices:
Red
Blue
Both
My area is a bunch of weirdos
Other

 

Red/Blue to my recollection here in TX.
Found it odd to see blue only in LA on our way home from Baton Rouge a few weeks ago.

Red and blue in California. Blue only in Tennessee. Red only for non-police in both.

Predominantly all blue here for LE. State law allows for LE to use yellow/red/white as supplemental to their blue lights. There are some “public safety” agencies here in SC that handle both police and fire services. They frequently have both red and blue lights on their vehicles.

Red and blue here in Utah except for Draper which is blue only.

Red and blue in Wisco

There are a number of township police agencies crowded into a small area here, so I can't speak for all of them, since I've not seen some of the local agencies with their lights on, but all the ones I've seen have been red and blue.

I’ve never seen anything except red and blue in Colorado. I actually thought that blue only was just a European practice. Long ago of course the only color seen on police cars was red, but that's not really the best color for emergency vehicles. It's hard to differentiate red on a police car from the countless taillights in some situations, not to mention even traffic lights. Plus, our eyes aren't as sensitive to red as to blue.

Police - almost all are blue
Fire trucks - most all are red
Ambulance - most town run are mix blue/red, private run are red

Highway plow trucks are starting to mix green strobes with the amber, supposedly easier to see.

Florida, by statute - Police vehicles are blue, fire vehicles are red, ambulances are red and wreckers are amber.

Minnesota: Blue passenger side, red driver's side on the light bar, blue and red in the grille (same as bar), Stop stick, amber arrow, blue and red on the ends (same as bar), any lights on the rear have to match the light bar, except flashing white, as in the reversing lights are permitted.

Fire trucks and EMS have to be the same if they want blue in the scheme, but the volunteer units tend to keep their light bars from truck to truck, so usually have all red.

Snow Plows have blue strobes front and rear, wreckers use amber or red, or a mix.

In our county and the same with State Police, it’s the Blue Plate Special.

Michigan State Police = red. Locals are either both colors or blue usually.

It blew me away when I relocated from Cols OH to Richmond, VA and saw blue lights on LE vehicles.

Growing up in Cols, OH red was the only color I knew for LE.

Where I lived and worked in NC, it was blue for police and red for fire/em s

Here in Texas it’s red and blue....but blue can be found on construction equipment and trucks so I guess blue is just an attention getter and the red is for LE/emergency

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Where I lived and worked in NC, it was blue for police and red for fire/em s

Here in Texas it’s red and blue....but blue can be found on construction equipment and trucks so I guess blue is just an attention getter and the red is for LE/emergency

The only department I’ve seen that isn’t blue only in NC is the Garner police which use both blue and red.

MSP is all red. Locals use red / blue.

I've seen a multiplicity of color combinations here in S.E. Michigan.

The state cops use a single red "bubble" in the middle of the roof. I haven't seen one lit in a quite a while, but I would imagine they're strobes, now, rather than rotating beacons. Either way: They're still the same size, shape, and location they've been ever since I can remember.

The county and municipal cops use all manner of combinations of red, blue, and yellow. Blue is always there, and sometimes the only color, but I've seen it in combination with red and/or yellow. I think I might even have seen green used in combination with other colors?

I know when they're in my mirrors at 0300, they're hella bright!!

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
Florida, by statute - Police vehicles are blue, fire vehicles are red, ambulances are red and wreckers are amber.

Looks like some police are red and blue in FL.