Blues and twos - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Blues and twos is a colloquial British term that refers to the emergency vehicle equipment

Emergency vehicle equipment

Emergency vehicle equipment is the equipment fitted to, or carried by, an emergency vehicle, which is additional to any equipment such as headlights, steering wheels or windshield/windscreens that a standard non-emergency vehicle is fitted with....

of combined flashing lights as well as sirens that the emergency services in the UK and Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

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. Some emergency services are still using traditional two-tone horns; these include South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of South Yorkshire, England. The service is split into four districts covering the areas of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield-Stations:...

, (including their new Scania

Scania AB

Scania Aktiebolag , commonly referred to as Scania AB or just Scania, is a major Swedish automotive industry manufacturer of commercial vehicles - specifically heavy trucks and buses...

appliances); Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service

The Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, is the Fire Service serving the county of Oxfordshire.It has 24 fire stations across the county. These are located in: Oxford , Didcot, Abingdon, Wallingford, Faringdon, Wantage, Goring, Henley-on-Thames, Thame, Wheatley, Watlington, Banbury, Hook Norton,...

; Dublin Fire Brigade

Dublin Fire Brigade

The Dublin Fire Brigade is the local authority fire and rescue service for Dublin City and the majority of the Greater Dublin Area. It is a branch of Dublin City Council. There are currently 14 fire stations manned by DFB, 12 of which are full-time, the other 2 are part-time or "retained"....

; Greater Manchester Police

Greater Manchester Police

Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...

; and, because of their age, many Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

, Royal Naval Air Service

Royal Naval Air Service

The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...

and Civil Defence

Civil Defence Ireland

Civil Defence Ireland is the national civil defence organisation of the Republic of Ireland. It is operated at local authority level in conjunction with the Department of Defence....

fire-fighting vehicles are still fitted with compressed air two-tone horns.

Permitted use

In the United Kingdom, the use of blue flashing lights is regulated by the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, and sirens by the Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986, both as amended by various other pieces of legislation (see right). The 1989 restrictions state that no vehicle, other than an emergency vehicle, shall be fitted with a "blue warning beacon or special warning lamp", or a device which resembles a blue warning beacon or a special warning lamp, whether it works or not.

Type of vehicle	Blue flashing lights	Sirens	Other exemptions
used for police purposes	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	Yes
used for Serious Organised Crime Agency Serious Organised Crime Agency The Serious Organised Crime Agency is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom under Home Office sponsorship... purposes	Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Consequential and Supplementary Amendments to Secondary Legislation) Order 2006	Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Consequential and Supplementary Amendments to Secondary Legislation) Order 2006	Yes
used for purposes of a fire and rescue authority (or relevant authority in Scotland Fire services in Scotland Fire services in Scotland are provided by Fire and Rescue Services each under the control of a Fire and Rescue Authority or a joint fire board .... )	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	Yes
used for ambulance purposes	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	Yes
an ambulance, being a vehicle (other than an invalid carriage) which is constructed or adapted for the purposes of conveying sick, injured or disabled persons and which is used for such purposes	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	Yes
owned by a body formed primarily for the purposes of fire salvage and used for those or similar purposes	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	No
owned by the Forestry Commission Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment.... or by a local authority Local government in the United Kingdom The pattern of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom, because England does not have a devolved... and used from time to time for the purposes of fighting fire Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition.... s	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	?
owned or operated by the Secretary of State for Defence Secretary of State for Defence The Secretary of State for Defence, popularly known as the Defence Secretary, is the senior Government of the United Kingdom minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position... and used: for the purposes of the disposal Bomb disposal Bomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the following fields:*Military:... of bomb Bomb A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy... s or explosive Explosive material An explosive material, also called an explosive, is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure... s for the purposes of any activity which prevents or decreases the exposure of persons to radiation arising from a radiation accident or radiation emergency, or in connection with an event which could lead to a radiation accident or radiation emergency by the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service for the purposes of rescue operations or any other emergencies	Road Vehicles Lighting (Amendment) Regulations 2005	Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2005	Some
owned or operated by the Secretary of State for Defence and used by United Kingdom Special Forces United Kingdom Special Forces The United Kingdom Special Forces is a UK Ministry of Defence Directorate which also has the capability to provide a Joint Special Operations Task Force Headquarters... in response, or for training or practice in responding, to a national security emergency	Road Traffic Exemptions (Special Forces) (Variation and Amendment) Regulations 2011	Road Traffic Exemptions (Special Forces) (Variation and Amendment) Regulations 2011	Yes
primarily used for the purposes of the Blood Transfusion Service provided under the National Health Service Act 1977 or under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	Some
used by Her Majesty's Coastguard Her Majesty's Coastguard Her Majesty's Coastguard is the service of the government of the United Kingdom concerned with co-ordinating air-sea rescue.HM Coastguard is a section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible for the initiation and co-ordination of all civilian maritime Search and Rescue within the UK... or Coastguard Auxiliary Service for the purposes of giving aid to persons in danger or vessels in distress on or near the coast	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	No
owned by the British Coal Corporation (Now Coal Authority Coal Authority The Coal Authority is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government.-History:It was established under the Coal Industry Act 1994 to manage certain functions previously undertaken by the British Coal Corporation , including ownership of unworked coal.It is situated in the south of... ) and used for the purposes of rescue operations Mine rescue Mine rescue is the very specialized job of rescuing miners and others who have become trapped or injured underground in mines because of mining accidents and disasters such as explosions caused by firedamp, roof falls or floods.- Expert volunteers :... at mine Mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock... s	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	?
owned by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways.... and used for the purposes of launching lifeboat Lifeboat (rescue) A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine... s	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	?
primarily used for the purposes of conveying any human tissue Tissue (biology) Tissue is a cellular organizational level intermediate between cells and a complete organism. A tissue is an ensemble of cells, not necessarily identical, but from the same origin, that together carry out a specific function. These are called tissues because of their identical functioning... for organ transplant Organ transplant Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be... or similar purposes	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986	No
under the lawful control of the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and used from time to time for the purposes of the investigation of serious crime Crime Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...	Road Vehicles Lighting (Amendment) Regulations 2005	Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2005	?
used for mountain rescue Mountain rescue in England and Wales Mountain rescue services in England and Wales operate under the umbrella association of the MREW - Mountain Rescue... purposes	Road Vehicles Lighting and Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) (Amendment) Regulations 2009	Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No.4) Regulations 2009	No

Each of the emergency services listed above have different policies regarding the use of blue lights and sirens. Most require the driver to be trained to a particular standard in response driving, but currently no national standard exists. Provision exists for a national standard to be required in order to utilise speed limit exemptions, but this has not been brought into force.

Road Traffic Exemptions

In the UK, vehicles used for certain purposes may have exemptions from some road traffic regulations whilst responding to an emergency. Merely being authorised to use blue lights and sirens does not of itself grant exemptions from road traffic law. These exemptions apply whether or not blue lights and/or sirens are being used, although it is mainly desirable:

treating a red traffic light as a give way sign
passing to the right of a keep left or keep right sign (but not disobeying a turn left, turn right, or ahead only sign)
driving on a motorway hard shoulder (even against the direction of traffic)
exceeding the statutory speed limit (police, fire and ambulance purposes only; and special forces purposes only for national security emergencies where the driver is trained or is being trained in high-speed driving)
driving in a bus lane
stopping on zig-zag lines
parking in restricted areas, including against flow of traffic at night
leaving the vehicle with the engine running, normally the offence of "quitting" (police utilising the run lock feature on most cars)
using audible warnings outside permitted hours
driving against the flow of traffic on a one-way street, only with permission of a police officer or traffic warden

Permitted use

Road Traffic Exemptions

See also