New NYSP Vehicle Lighting

[Porsha911gt3 8]

Has anyone seen some of the new trooper cars they have gotten. I saw 2 crown vics today with low profile LED light bars. Last night on the expressway I saw a slick-top with a blue and red LED arrow stick, one side was completely blue and the other was completely red. It got my attention from over a mile away.

[DOC22 1]

Front's probably just as impressive. all the better to pull you over for speeding! HAHAHAHA

[xfirefighter484x 234]

Has anyone seen some of the new trooper cars they have gotten. I saw 2 crown vics today with low profile LED light bars. Last night on the expressway I saw a slick-top with a blue and red LED arrow stick, one side was completely blue and the other was completely red. It got my attention from over a mile away.

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I captured this pic on Rt. 55 in Poughkeepsie/LaGrange about a week, week and a half ago.

Very impressive and effective lighting. Also, I know of at least one slicktop with LED lighting out of Troop K, with a bunch of Whelen Talons (one or 2 in front, 2 in rear), LIN8 units on the mirrors, and hideaway strobes in the corner lights.

It is my understanding that Troop K has a bout 3 or 4 cruisers outfitted with the latest and greatest in LED technology. I believe the only additional lighting besides the lightbar is an amber LED lightstick on the rear deck, and maybe 2 TIR3s in the grille.

Saw a few of these on the TSP a few weeks back at a serious wreck at night, making it look like Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.

[mfc2257 464]

The FHP (Florida Highway Patrol) has gone to either mostly blue with a touch of red LED bars OR totally blue slick tops with all LED's.

They are so bright that you can see them from MILES, not just a mile away, on super long and straight Florida roads like the Turnpike and I-75.

[trauma74 111]

I think it is just a matter of time and we will see blue along with red on the front of PD cars. There are already some PDs that are sneaking in a single blue light facing forward.

I have seen numerous new EMS vehicles with blue on the rear and even a few with one blue light in the front.

In my opinion I think that NY should take NJs lead:

Fire/EMS & PD Vehicles: Red, White & Blue facing forward and to the rear

EMS & FD Volunteers: Blue facing forward

NY is the only state that I know of that has green for EMS vollies. The problem with using green on EMS vollie's vehicles is that it can lead to confusion at a large scale incident because green flashing lights signify a command post according to NIMS.

[IzzyEng4 427]

NY is the only state that I know of that has green for EMS vollies. The problem with using green on EMS vollie's vehicles is that it can lead to confusion at a large scale incident because green flashing lights signify a command post according to NIMS.

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Nope, CT has green for EMS and that was set up years ago. It used to be CSP was all blue, local pd's could be blue or red, fire department apparatus red and white and could use blue, volunteer fd responders used blue forward facing and ems green.

All police agencies in CT are now a combination of red and blue with yellow flashers towards the rear only and fire departments mostly follow NFPA's recommendations for colors.

Fore volunteers the state wanted to distinguish fire and ems responders so fire kept blue and emt's green. The exception is that if a person is a firefighter and EMT and is licensed with both a blue and green light permit, as long as the department of two separate agencies (depending) will allow the use of a two color combination light but over all you should be only using one color at a time. The use of a command post green light is relatively new (late 1990's) and stationary only and is not activated until the command post is set up. CT will not change this and will keep the separate color lights.

[Remember585 815]

I've said this since day one and will stick to it - let the PDs use blue or any color they want to make it safer for them.

All we need to do now is to get the State to allow the use of blue warning lights in the rear of fire and EMS vehicles. We need to do something because the typical red and amber we have in the back doesn't seem to grab anyone's attention.

[x635 4,066]

It's about time they upgraded from halogen Federal Signal!!!! Those bars were awful, hard to see.

Strobe is a step up, but wonder why they didn't go with LED bars?

[RWC130 594]

Seth,

They are Low Profile LED bars.

Watch out, they will sneak right up on you! haha

[xfirefighter484x 234]

2K62 is a slicktop with LEDs all around, I am trying to get a good shot to put up. I only have a few shots of it not in the foreground, and/or not cropped to show only the vehicle, so I will try to get a good one to post soon.

Edited May 9, 2007 by xfirefighter484x

[ONLOCATION 24]

The closest I saw one was in Vista at there Lumberyard Fire......was kinda interested in the car as much as the job.........

[RWC130 594]

xfirefighter484x,

I think I am gonna race down the Taconic Parkway sometime tomorrow so I can see this sweet LED lightbar up close.

Hopefully the Trooper will understand I was only doing a LED Lightbar study!

LOL

I am very happy to see the New York State Troopers getting the much needed new

LED Lightbars, obviously a lot safer on the roadways when motorists can

see you miles away.

Red, Blue, Amber combo to the rear is great!

New Lightbars will go great with the AMAZING Siren the Troopers have had

for many years.

Unitrol Touchmaster now Federal Signal Touchmaster

Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxBKcvljdEY

NOTE: Siren is NOT in my car!

[xfirefighter484x 234]

xfirefighter484x,

I think I am gonna race down the Taconic Parkway sometime tomorrow so I can see this sweet LED lightbar up close.

Hopefully the Trooper will understand I was only doing a LED Lightbar study!

LOL 

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I have seen at least 2 or 3 at one time, so there are a few, so this increases your odds!!

Good luck, let me know how it all works out, lol!

The lighting is VERY effective in the daytime, and let me tell you.....nighttime visibility....you will see the glow before you even crest the hill approaching one at night, lol. It looks like the glow from a downed alien space ship.

Edited May 9, 2007 by xfirefighter484x

[trauma74 111]

Even though the cops can "legally" have blue lights facing toward the rear, I have seen many new ambulances and fire trucks with at least one rear facing blue light.

On a few occasions I saw a few EMS vehicles with one forward facing blue light!

[Remember585 815]

Trauma74:

Your rigs in Chester, the twins we had pics of here I think, have blue lights, right?

[trauma74 111]

We do have blue lights on the rear of our 2 new buses. There are 2 blue lights on the rear lightbar and the upper halves of our 900 series LEDs are blue and the bottom halves are amber. Our local PDs have no problem with this. They know th reason why we have blue is the same reason why they now have blue. The NYSP in this area also seem to not have a problem with us having blue in the back.

A good amount of the new fire and EMS vehicles in this area are going with at least one blue light on the rear of their vehicles.

I will not say who, but a few of our local agencies have been testing the waters with blue in the front. I think that in some areas blue in the front will be accepted and you will see it more and more.

[27east 19]

This is probably a stupid question, but why not go with the colored lenses, instead of clear?

[trauma74 111]

Originally, I wanted all of the outer lenses to be clear. I like the look of the clear outer lenses. I wanted the fact that we had some blue lights to be kept on a low profile. When they did he lighting they made some lenses clear and some colored. Instead of making our delivery time longer, we just left the lenses they way they came.

[Guest partyrock]

Can we stop with all of these bright lights on emergency vehicles. I came over the hill on the sprain a few weeks ago and thanks to the rain my windshield turned into a friggin wall of blue and red. The idiot in the lane next to me forgot he was in the middle of a turn and drifted across infront of me. Yeah, he was an idiot, but I couldn't see crap either and had anyone been behind me it would have been a long night. AMBER AMBER AMBER AMBER AMBER AMBER

[xfirefighter484x 234]

Can we stop with all of these bright lights on emergency vehicles.  I came over the hill on the sprain a few weeks ago and thanks to the rain my windshield turned into a friggin wall of blue and red.  The idiot in the lane next to me forgot he was in the middle of a turn and drifted across infront of me.  Yeah, he was an idiot, but I couldn't see crap either and had anyone been behind me it would have been a long night.  AMBER AMBER AMBER AMBER AMBER AMBER

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So are you advocating dim, underlit vehicles? I know amber is said to be the best for visibility, but there comes a time when complacency sets in, and the amber doesn't hold the "authority" of other colored lights, and you end up needing a real attention grabber.

Hopefully, the increased light power and colors will enable people to notice these vehicles, and take appropriate actions long before the distance they have to get NOW before they notice said vehicles.

Edited May 10, 2007 by xfirefighter484x

[Guest partyrock]

Do you honestly believe a few blue lights are going to get people to stop smacking to cruisers on traffic stops and running into our areas of operation?? I can think of three incidnets in the past two years that I'm intimately familiar with. One and EMS capt was clipped when someone drove around and between fire apperatus operating at a fire. Second, a car ran into a ladder blocking an MVA on the Westside Highway. Drive was attempting to change lanes, couldn't get over and drove right into the truck. Third was a drunk that ran right into a trooper sitting on the shoulder of the highway. Most likely cause was the bright lights distracted him and like a moth to a flame he ran right into it. Ask anyone who rides motorcycles or mountain bikes. You hit what you look at. When you want to go around a pothole, rut, or root you look at the line you want to take and not at the object you want to avoid.

[trauma74 111]

Accidents can happen while you have flashing lights on or not, but making yourself visible will help to lessen the chance of an accident happening.

As far as the color of lights is concerned, it has been proven time and time again and it is taught by EVOC instructors that blue and amber are the two best colors to have on the rear of an emergency vehicle.

Red lights actually draw tired and intoxicated drivers to the vehicle bearing the red lights. Amber and blue draw drivers away from the vehicles bearing these lights. Since January when the NYSP and other agencies began using blue lights on the rear of their vehicles, you can see them pulled over to the side of the road a lot further away from before. Think about the rear of every car on the road...amber or red turn signals and red tail and brake lights. From a distance emergency vehicles get drowned out in the sea of lights. You do not see blue tail or brake lights or turn signals on any vehicles. The blue stands out better in the sea of lights.

[Remember585 815]

For the amount of people that advocate blue or even amber warning lights, there is also a similar number of people (including me) that feels warning lights should be turned off in most cases.

If it is a day time incident it isn't going to make much difference. Night time, however, if we setup a safe and approriate sized working area with apparatus in a well-placed blocking position we can help prevent accidents. In addition, scene lighting aimed towards the work area and around the apparatus so approaching vehicles can see them helps a great deal. Setup signs 1/4, 1/2 or even a mile ahead of time to warn motorists. Don't park one rig with all of it's flashing lights on with a three flare trail thinking you're safe. YOU'RE DEAD WRONG!

If I'm not mistaken also, certain versions of LEDs in blue are almost impossible to see in daylight, right? I remember reading something and I can't find it again.

I said it earlier, I would like to see FD and EMS get the permission to use blue to the rear too, but I think we have to be smart and stop thinking a warning light or 20 warning lights is going to save our asses. Look at the photo below and take notice of what color really stands out. At this scene, once the sun went away, we turned off the warning lights on the rig and used the 4000 watts of floodlights we spent the money on. PD loved us (if even for 4 hours, we'll take it )

(Ignore the body in the center median.)

Edited May 10, 2007 by Remember585

[Oswegowind 17]

I see the blue LED's on the lower half of the Vista light bar on the troopers units the best. I see them all the time on the road and they really catch your attention. As well amber is good cause people think it ain't important...just dot cleaning up! I don't know if that part is really true but just a guess.

[Guest partyrock]

People keep on missing out on the focus here. People crash into apperatus on scene for two reasons. Ability impaired or distracted.

Ability impaired can result from being too tired, drunk, or high. In these cases the bright lights have been shown to draw the driver towards the scene. This is also where chevrons are expected to improve scene safety. The down and away direction of the lines increases the probablility the driver will steer away from the vehicle.

Distracted drivers are on their phone, trying to merge, etc or are just plain deficient in mental capacity. They are aware of the incident they are approaching. they are just unable to avoid it.

Blue lights are absolutely more visible. That was actually the reasoning for their being put on police vehicles. No one is disputing that. The question is whats causeing the accidents, and its not a lack of visibility.

[MTACOP 0]

I know that our next bunch of cars will have red and blue on the rear around the amber arrows, same low profile whelen bar, only with clear lenses.

On the front we're using red and white with one blue forward on the right. Only difference will be our CT cars that will have half red and hlaf blue on the front.

Also all will have red/blue Whelen Talons on rear deck. and TIR3 Red/Blue in the grill.

[RWC130 594]

I saw a NYSP car with this new lightbar at Ansville Circle in Peekskill on Tuesday. 7/24

[Oswegowind 17]

Saw 3K81 with a low profile edge light bar...looked LED with colored filters...sort of like the one on the pics of the new SP Charger on EMTB.com...

Isn't 81 a K9 unit? Just thought it was...and I definitely like the new Tahoe's and are seeing them more and more around...especially in Cortlandt! Finally a buffed out State Police vehicle! LED's, rotators, arrow sticks...what is next?

[xfirefighter484x 234]

For those who haven't seen them, I have a short video of a NYSP cruiser with a Whelen LED lightbar on it!

Unfortunately, this video doesn't do the lightbar ANY justice at ALL!!!!

Edited August 2, 2007 by xfirefighter484x

[INIT915 1,119]

3K81 was a Camaro, now replaced with a Crown Vic. The K9's are 3K80, 3K82, 3K83, and 3K85.

Hawthorne has one Tahoe, 3K19.

Cortlandt's Tahoe's include 3K41, 3K46, 3K54, 3K55, 3K58, 3K59, 3K60, 3K85.