An Incident Response Unit of Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service with a blue lightbar on top, alternately flashing LED lights on the front, and flashing headlights

Blues and twos is a colloquial term that refers to the emergency vehicle equipment of combined flashing lights as well as sirens that the emergency services in the UK use when responding to an incident. The origin of the phrase comes from the fact the lights are usually blue and the traditional siren was a two-tone horn, although now most emergency services use combinations of other modern siren sounds. Some emergency services are still using traditional two tone horns, these include South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (including their new Scania appliances), Greater Manchester Police and because of their age many Royal Air Force and Royal Naval Air Service fire fighting vehicles are still fitted with compressed air two tone horns.

The use of blue flashing lights is regulated by the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, the Road Vehicles Lighting (Amendment) Regulations 2005 and the Road Vehicles Lighting (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2005. The 1989 restrictions state that no vehicle, other than an emergency vehicle, shall be fitted with a "blue warning beacon or special warning lamp", or a device which resembles a blue warning beacon or a special warning lamp, whether it works or not.^[1] The following are defined as "emergency vehicles":^[2]

• Vehicles used for police purposes (but not necessarily a police vehicle, e.g. search and rescue)
• Vehicles used for fire brigade purposes
• Vehicles used for ambulance purposes (but not necessarily an ambulance service vehicle, such as mountain rescue)
• Vehicles owned by a body formed primarily for the purposes of fire salvage and used for those or similar purposes
• Vehicles owned by the Forestry Commission or by a local authority and used from time to time for the purposes of fighting fires
• Vehicles owned or operated by the Secretary of State for Defence^[3] and used:
  • for the purposes of the disposal of bombs or explosives
  • by the Naval Emergency Monitoring Organisation for the purposes of a nuclear accident or an incident involving radioactivity
  • by the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service for the purposes of rescue operations or any other emergencies or
  • by the Royal Air Force Armament Support Unit
• Vehicles primarily used for the purposes of the Blood Transfusion Service
• Vehicles used by Her Majesty's Coastguard or Coastguard Auxiliary Service for the purposes of giving aid to persons in danger or vessels in distress on or near the coast
• Vehicles owned by the British Coal Corporation (Now Coal Authority) and used for the purposes of rescue operations at mines
• Vehicles owned by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and used for the purposes of launching lifeboats
• Vehicles primarily used for the purposes of conveying any human tissue for organ transplant or similar purposes
• Vehicles under the lawful control of the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and used for the purposes of the investigation of serious crime^[4]

Each police force has different policies regarding the use of blue lights. Most require the driver to be trained in response driving. Likewise Coastguard vehicles are defined as emergency vehicles under the law but are not permitted to any of the exemptions listed in this article, the blue lights and sirens on Coastguard vehicles are intended as a request to other road users to be aware of them only.

[edit] Exemptions

Six Metropolitan Police Service motorcycles driving with the blues and twos on. They can be seen breaking a number of normal traffic rules. Each motorbike has driven through a red light, and the motorbike on the far right can be seen driving on the wrong side of the road and passing on the right of a keep left sign.

In the UK, emergency vehicles are exempt (with a suitably qualified driver) from certain motoring regulations. These exemptions apply whether or not blue lights and/or sirens are being used, although it is mainly desirable. :^[5]

• treating a red traffic light as a give way sign
• passing to the right of a keep left sign (but not turn left)
• driving on a motorway hard shoulder (even against the direction of traffic)
• exceeding the statutory speed limit (police, fire and ambulance services only)
• driving in a bus lane
• parking in restricted areas, including against flow of traffic at night
• leaving the vehicle with the engine running, normally the offence of "quitting" (police utilising the run lock feature on most cars)
• using audible warnings outside of permitted hours
• driving against the flow of traffic on a one way street, only with permission of a police officer or traffic warden

The driver may need to use his/her discretion about the motoring situation faced - for instance they are not allowed to overtake when a solid white line is present.^[5]

[edit] See also

• Code 3 Response
• Emergency vehicle equipment
• Emergency service
• Battenburg markings

[edit] References