Until this month, only police and prison vehicles could use blue lights.
Large fire trucks throughout the Sunshine State will soon have blue rear lights in addition to the red tail lights seen on practically all vehicles nationwide.
There’s a good reason.
This past Legislative Session, state lawmakers unanimously approved a bipartisan bill (HB 463) to allow government-owned fire department vehicles weighing more than 12 tons to have blue lights on their rears.
Previously, the allowance only applied to police and prison vehicles.
Numerous studies have found that red and blue are the most visible illuminated colors on the spectrum. That includes a 2004 study by the Florida Highway Patrol that determined that red flashing lights are most easily perceived in daylight, while blue stands out best at night.