fire truck lighting?

Was following a fire truck for a while on my way home from work last
night... just wondering if what I saw was completely legal or not. On
the rear of the truck was a horizontal LED light bar with "moving" amber
lights. Thing was, it was noticeably brighter than the brake lights,
and high up (slightly higher than eye level) to the point that it was
distracting and screwing with my night vision. Do fire trucks get a
pass for light intensity regs, or is this something that should not have
been turned on while driving but not responding to an emergency? I'm
not looking to stir up trouble, I'm just honestly curious how someone
would have thought that was a good idea. About the equivalent of
putting rear facing strobing high beams on your car!

Didn't help that it was pitch dark and raining and was darn near
impossible to see the lines on the road to begin with... I guess there
aren't any E-codes available for current model Impalas? No? Didn't
think so... :/

nate

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On Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:57:44 -0500, Nate Nagel wrote:

> Was following a fire truck for a while on my way home from work last
> night... just wondering if what I saw was completely legal or not. On
> the rear of the truck was a horizontal LED light bar with "moving" amber
> lights. Thing was, it was noticeably brighter than the brake lights,
> and high up (slightly higher than eye level) to the point that it was
> distracting and screwing with my night vision. Do fire trucks get a
> pass for light intensity regs, or is this something that should not have
> been turned on while driving but not responding to an emergency? I'm
> not looking to stir up trouble, I'm just honestly curious how someone
> would have thought that was a good idea. About the equivalent of
> putting rear facing strobing high beams on your car!
>
> Didn't help that it was pitch dark and raining and was darn near
> impossible to see the lines on the road to begin with... I guess there
> aren't any E-codes available for current model Impalas? No? Didn't
> think so... :/
>
> nate

You can do practically anything you want with a firetruck.
No cop anywhere is gonna cite the driver, if he wants to keep his job.
Now you put them on your car and see how quick pulls you over and cites
you.
You'd have to check your state laws and see what the requirements are for
amber light luminescence ratings.

On Dec 3, 9:57*pm, Nate Nagel > wrote:
> Thing was, it was noticeably brighter than the brake lights,
> and high up (slightly higher than eye level) to the point that it was
> distracting and screwing with my night vision. *Do fire trucks get a
> pass for light intensity regs, or is this something that should not have
> been turned on while driving but not responding to an emergency? *I'm
> not looking to stir up trouble, I'm just honestly curious how someone
> would have thought that was a good idea. *About the equivalent of
> putting rear facing strobing high beams on your car!

They're intended to impede visibility to induce lower velocities of
approaching traffic and encourage R&P following distances.

Firefighters have driving courses but don't get to practice in real
world traffic much. It is best that all but only the greatest nitwits
be held somewhat at bay.
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- gpsman