Emergency Lights You Might See In So. Utah (And What They Mean)

Flashing red and blue lights are easy. We've all seen them (hopefully not because of us).

They mean a police car is responding to an emergency.

Pull over, let the police officer speed by, then ease back into traffic.

But what about other potential flashing lights on vehicles? Here's a handy list to help you recognize who they belong to:

• Red -- reserved for police, fire and other emergency vehicles. The only exception: A school bus's reed stop lights when the bus lets students off.
• Blue -- Reserved for law enforcement, firefighters and EMS.
• Yellow -- Utility vehicles like construction crews, street sweepers, snow plows, or garbage trucks, or oversized vehicles
• White -- Rarely used alone, it is usually put on emergency vehicles to enhance the other colors
• Green -- Exclusively for Department of Homeland Security
• Purple -- Funeral hearses or medical examiner

A few fun facts from around the world:

1. Swedish ambulances use a single green flashing light to indicate the command post.
2. In Spain, all emergency vehicles use blue, with yellow for wide loads. No other vehicle lights are allowed
3. In South Korea, ambulances use green flashing light
4. Emergency services in Norway use only blue lighting. If a blue flashing light is seen in either traffic or the sea, other vehicles must yield to let that vehicle pass. No other colors are allowed
5. The only country to use magenta lights is Australia. These signify oversized vehicles
6. Christmassy red and green lights are used on patrol cars in Chile
7. The Emerald Isle -- Ireland -- is the only country that expressly forbids green lights on vehicles.

Blue is a very popular color in Europe for emergency vehicles, and for good reason. Back in World War II, all emergency vehicle used blue lights because they could not be seen well from enemy airplanes due to its "scattering" characteristics.

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