Light Bars – one of the most distinctive features of emergency vehicles.
Look at any emergency vehicle and the thing that is likely to stand out is the light bars on top of the vehicle. Police vehicles in the past were the same as the models of automobile that the general public could buy. How have they evolved since those early days?
Look at any police vehicle from the past and one of the first things you notice is that the vehicles used were just standard models that you and your neighbors could buy. Police vehicles came into use in the latter part of the nineteenth Century; they gave the police and law enforcement officers an advantage. It meant that a single officer could cover a much wider area in a much shorter time. Additions such as sirens and light bars were added much later. So initially there were no sirens or any kind of light bars attached to the vehicles.
Sirens and light bars were starting to be added along with distinctive paintwork in the 1920’s. The cars were still just purchased retail and any modifications were basic to say the least. After WWII car manufacturers cottoned on to the use of vehicles by law enforcement agencies and started putting together ‘packages’ to offer police departments. They basically took the most requested special options that police departments asked for, and offered an integrated package including the siren and lighting. The light bars we know and recognize today are far superior to the initial lighting package offered by the manufacturers.
So from the introduction by Ford in 1950 of its police package vehicles we have moved on with ever more specialist equipment, lighting and interior tailoring. light bars have become more streamlined and offer various different light options in one unit. The flash pattern can be varied and in some unit’s the color options can be switched on and off depending on the situation the vehicle is being used at. So, simple light bars have now become sophisticated pieces of law enforcement equipment. The light bars offer hazard warning, ‘take down’ lights and side alley lights in a single unit.
Other than paint schemes the other noticeable feature of any police or emergency vehicle is the light bars on top of the vehicles. There is no one standard set of police vehicle additions that can be added during production, as all states have varying requirements as to what they add to their vehicles. light bars are offered in various different color ways and often with banks of lights that can be seen even in bright daylight.
So from very humble beginnings of a single strobe light and a rudimentary siren, police vehicles have become more and more specialized. The additions to police vehicles are different state by state and each law enforcement group has a range of different requirements for their vehicles. LED light bars are now very popular as they are reliable and provide extremely good lighting round 360-degrees. The light bars on today’s vehicles are very distinctive and we can all recognize them without any hesitation.
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Light bars and many other items like Flashlights, Dash Lights, Deck Lights, etc. Please visit the site for more details of various items available – http://www.extremetacticaldynamics.com/
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