EMERGENCY LIGHTING – The Uncelebrated Hero
Emergency lightingis important particularly to road users as it conveys a certain message, invoking a reaction from the road user such as to either give way or pull over. This type of lighting is commonly seen on police cars, ambulances, fire trucks, police stops or accident scenes.
Emergency lightingis often paired with a siren. The intensity of the light directly reflects on the urgency perceived by the road user. There are different types of Emergency lighting , and the type and color of these lights vary in different parts of the world. The message that they send is however universal. Emergency lights have proved to be a tremendous invention, as it warns road users and helps emergency vehicles get to their destination on time.
One example of Emergency lighting , which is also the simplest, is the steady burning lamp. These can often be found where emergency workers are present, and are used to warn on-coming traffic of the presence of emergency workers (colored lights) or enable emergency workers to see what they are doing (white light). These are mostly common at accident scenes and are paired with flashing lights to draw more attention to the site. There are however emergency vehicles in the past that displayed a steady burning light, which was paired with a siren.
Strobe lighting, which is another form of Emergency lighting , is based on the concept of flash photography. They contain xenon flash lamps, which characteristically light up in very brief but very bright flashes of light. This effect is achieved by putting out a large current through the gas. These lights are very bright, and are sure to catch the attention of a motorist. One of the reactions expected when a motorist sees these lights on their rear view mirror is to pull over to engage in a conversation with the police officer. Strobe lighting has however raised concerns for people with photosensitive epilepsy due to the intensity of the light, regardless of color. This is rare but it is important to address this issue.
Light Emitting Diode (LED) is yet another form of Emergency lighting . The workings of this type of lighting involve a clear dome, as the color of the light is a property of the LED itself. LED Emergency lightingis mostly favored by police as the light bars can be made very thin, which in turn reduces wind resistance. These lights are also known to last a long time and do not need regular replacing.
A study done in the United Kingdom however revealed that strobe lighting, as a form of Emergency lightingbetter attracted more attention of the road users and seemed more urgent as compared to the steady burning lamp and the LED lighting. More research in this field should however be performed in order to aid emergency services acquire the best type of lighting for their job. Road users should also give preference to emergency vehicles that have their lights on, as well as heed to Emergency lightingat police stops or accident scenes. Furthermore, emergency workers should be protected from the adverse effects of constantly working under the glare of their Emergency lighting . These lights should not be so strong as to cause motorists to avert their eyes from the road in reaction to the glare form these lights.
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