Amber Rotorary/ Flashing/Strobe Light

[marcus5771]

Why do the vehicles use the amber rotorary flashing or strobe light when they there is realy no need too. They will put these on just because there fitted but there are in no danger to others.

[qapmoc]

But surely it is better for them to be extra visible even if it is not really required than for someone to have an accident if they don't see a stopped vehicle.

There is one other point which is more legal and this applies to EVERYTHING - not just flashing lights on vehicles, in any situation where an accident or even an incident has occured, if you are standing in court one day and the judge says to you ''but you had safety devices fitted/available why didn't you use them??'' what will your answer be ??

[Toureman]

The above is true but they do have them on when they are no danger to anyone, they just like to show off and feel important!

[sddsddean]

My truck has 2 flashing lights on the front and one on the back. Its a tipper, and I am regularly working in roadworks areas, where you have to have your flashing lights on for safety and 'cos its the Site Rules. However, we are all human and when you have been on site for a few hours and pull out of the works, you sometimes forget to switch them off (old age!!). In my experience, most bin lorries keep them on all the time, I think mainly because they can't be bothered switching them off for short periods, but the most annoying ones to me are tow trucks. Fair enough when they are actually towing a vehicle, but if its a flat bed vehicle and the recovered car is actually on the bed, they don't need the lights on, but still do. They are trying to warn you of a danger that isn't there and in consequence drivers become more apathetic to those lights that are there for a purpose, such as when I put mine on pulling into motorway roadworks....makes no odds, you can still reckon on a couple of cars to follow you in!

[Playbill]

I used to drive a recovery truck and was often called out by the police to accident scenes where they wanted the road cleared as soon as possible. I always put on all the warning lights, flashers and spotlights. To get the back of the truck to slide down required you to dip the clutch and hold it down for eight seconds then engage a lever. Slide the bed back, let the winch out, hook the vehicle up (sometimes minus wheels or bent round a lampost), drag it up, strap it down, slide the bed back, jump in cab, disengage the lever and drive off. A couple of miles down the road I might THEN notice the little lights winking on the dash telling me I had left some lights on.

[naz_nomad]

Speaking from years of experience ... you need to turn them on (roads & Street Works Act) when working in certain conditions ...

Thing is ...it's damn easy to forget to turn them off ... I've driven 1000's (probably) of miles total with the beacons going ...

As they are usually an after-market fitting ...the switch is sometimes in a place where it's not obvious ...and there's not usually a warning on the inside of the vehicle to tell you theyre on, other than a light on the switch which you can't always see...