Blues and twos

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.

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 and is restricted tocite web
last = Thomson
first = Richard
title = Blue Light Use
publisher = UK Emergency Vehicles
url = http://www.ukemergency.co.uk/information/bluelightuse.htm
accessdate = 2007-12-18 ] :

*Police vehicles (including search and rescue)
*Fire brigade appliances and fire officers vehicles
*Ambulances and paramedic/doctor rapid response vehicles
*Mountain Rescue (military and civil) vehicles
*HM Coastguard vehicles
*Human Tissue & Transplant vehicles
*Blood Transfusions Services
*Forestry Commission Fire Service appliances
*Bomb Disposal (Army and Royal Navy) vehicles
*RAF Armament Support vehicles
*Naval Nuclear Monitoring vehicles
*Royal National Lifeboat Institution vehicles
*HM Revenue and Customs vehicles when investigating serious crimes
*Ministry of Defence vehicles responding to or preventing a radiation incident

Regulations in the police force regarding driving under 'blues and twos' vary from force to force, but the generally accepted rule is that it is not permitted unless the driver is trained in response driving, although legally no qualification other than a driving licence is required to drive 'blues and twos'. In only a few forces are the use of lights alone to pull a vehicle over to the side of the road permitted by non-response trained drivers.Fact|date=August 2007

"Blues and Twos" was also the title of a fly-on-the-wall documentary series in the UK that followed one crew from a different emergency service in each episode.

Exemptions

In the UK, emergency vehicles are exempt (with a suitably qualified driver) from certain motoring regulations when using blue lights and/or sirens:
* 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 (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.

See also

*Code 3 Response
*Emergency vehicle equipment
*Emergency services
*Battenburg markings

References