Emergency vehicle equipment in the United Kingdom

An Incident Response Unit operated by Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service with a blue lightbar on top, alternately flashing LED lights on the front, and flashing headlights. This vehicle is part of the New Dimension programme and consequently does not carry any insignia of Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service.

Electronic sirens have replaced two-tone horns on most emergency vehicles

Emergency vehicle equipment is used in the United Kingdom to indicate urgent journeys by an emergency service. This usage is colloquially known as "blues and twos", which refers to the blue lights and the two-tone siren once commonplace (although most sirens now have a range of tones like Wail, Yelp, Phaser, and Hi-Lo). A call-out requiring the use of lights and sirens is often colloquially known as a "blue light run". From 1993-1998 a television documentary following Britain's emergency services was titled Blues and Twos for this reason.

Permitted use

Legislation that regulates blue flashing lights and sirens

Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 Road Vehicle Construction and Use Regulations 1986 Road Vehicles Lighting (Amendment) Regulations 2005 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use)(Amendment)( No.2) Regulations 2005 Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Consequential and Supplementary Amendments to Secondary Legislation) Order 2006 Road Vehicles (Construction and Use)(Amendment)(No.4) Regulations 2009 Road Vehicles Lighting and Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 Road Traffic Exemptions (Special Forces) (Variation and Amendment) Regulations 2011 Section 50 of the Deregulation Act 2015 Schedule 9 of the Deregulation Act 2015

In Great Britain, the use of blue lights is regulated by the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, and sirens by the Road Vehicles Construction and Use Regulations 1986, both of which have been amended by various other pieces of legislation (see right).

Regulation 16 of the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 state that no vehicle, other than an emergency vehicle (or a vehicle used for special forces purposes), 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. ^[1]

Similarly, Regulation 37(4) of the Road Vehicle Construction and Use Regulations 1986 prohibit vehicles from having a siren, bell, gong, or two-tone horn, unless the vehicle met the conditions of paragraph 5 (for emergency vehicles), paragraph 6 (for goods inside a vehicle that are on sale), or paragraph 7 (for car alarms, or for summoning help onboard a bus). ^[2]

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 National Crime Agency purposes	Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Consequential and Supplementary Amendments to Secondary Legislation) Order 2006 [3]	Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Consequential and Supplementary Amendments to Secondary Legislation) Order 2006 [3]	Yes
used for purposes of a fire and rescue authority (or relevant authority in Scotland)	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986	Yes
used for: ambulance purposes, or the purpose of providing a response to an emergency at the request of an NHS ambulance service (which includes motorbikes, "fast response" cars and similar) [4]	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 or by a local authority and used from time to time for the purposes of fighting fires	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986	No
owned or operated by the Secretary of State for Defence and used: for the purposes of the disposal of bombs or explosives 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 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 His Majesty's Coastguard 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) and used for the purposes of rescue operations at mines	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986	No
owned by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and used for the purposes of launching lifeboats	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986	No exemptions. However, as it is only lifeboat launching vehicles that are classed as emergency vehicles and with all but a handful of these vehicles being slow moving tractors that move lifeboats across roads and beaches to access the sea it is highly unlikely they will ever need to use exemptions in the course of their emergency duties in any case.
primarily used for the purposes of conveying any human tissue for organ transplant or similar purposes	Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989	No	No
under the lawful control of the Commissioners for His Majesty's Revenue and Customs and used from time to time for the purposes of the investigation of serious crime	Road Vehicles Lighting (Amendment) Regulations 2005	Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2005	?
used for 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 exemptions for Mountain Rescue purposes.
used for the purpose of training drivers for the use of blue lights for any of the above purposes.	Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989	The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986	Some.

Each of the emergency services listed above has 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

Six Metropolitan Police Service motorcycles driving with the blues and twos on. They can be seen breaking a number of normal traffic rules. Each motorbike has driven through a red light, and the motorbike on the far right can be seen driving on the wrong side of the road and passing on the right of a keep left sign.

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. ^[5] These exemptions apply whether or not blue lights and/or sirens are being used, although it is mainly desirable: ^[6]

• treating a red traffic light as a give way sign ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}
• passing to the right of a keep left sign or to the left of a keep right sign (but not disobeying a turn left, turn right, or ahead only sign) ^{[11] [12] [13]}
• driving on a motorway hard shoulder (even against the direction of traffic) ^[14]
• exceeding the statutory speed limit (police, fire and ambulance purposes only; and National Crime Agency purposes only, where the driver is trained or is being trained in high-speed driving) ^{[15] [16]}
• stopping on zig-zag lines ^{[17] [18] [19]}
• parking in restricted areas, including against flow of traffic at night ^{[20] [21] [22]}
• leaving the vehicle with the engine running, normally the offence of "quitting" (police and ambulance utilising the run lock feature on most cars) ^[23]
• using audible warnings outside permitted hours ^[24]
• using a bus lane during hours of operation ^[25]
• using a siren, bell, gong, or two-tone horn, whether the emergency vehicle is stationary or not ^[26]

See also

• Battenburg markings
• Code 3 Response

References

1. "The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
2. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regulation/37?view=extent ^{[ bare URL ]}
3. By paragraph 4 of Schedule 8 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013, references to the Serious Organised Crime Agency are now deemed to be references to the new National Crime Agency
4. Schedule 9 to the Deregulation Act 2015
5. EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM TO THE ROAD VEHICLES LIGHTING AND GOODS VEHICLE (PLATING AND TESTING) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2009 AND THE ROAD VEHICLES (CONSTRUCTION AND USE)(AMENDMENT)( NO.4) REGULATIONS 2009
6. Thomson, Richard. "Blue Light Use". UK Emergency Vehicles. Archived from the original on 9 January 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
7. Regulation 36 of The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002
8. "The Zebra, Pelican and Puffin Pedestrian Crossings Regulations and General Directions 1997". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 27 April 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
9. "The Zebra, Pelican and Puffin Pedestrian Crossings Regulations and General Directions 1997". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 27 April 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
10. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/362/schedule/14/part/1/paragraph/5/made ^{[ bare URL ]}
11. "The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
12. "The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 26 April 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
13. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/362/schedule/3/part/4/paragraph/3/made ^{[ bare URL ]}
14. "The Motorways Traffic (England and Wales) Regulations 1982". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Archived from the original on 18 July 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
15. "Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Archived from the original on 20 September 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
16. "Road Safety Act 2006". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
17. "The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 22 January 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
18. "The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 March 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
19. "The Zebra, Pelican and Puffin Pedestrian Crossings Regulations and General Directions 1997". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 March 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
20. "The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Archived from the original on 1 August 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
21. "Traffic Management Act 2004". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Archived from the original on 28 April 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
22. "Traffic Management Act 2004". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Archived from the original on 28 April 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
23. "The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Archived from the original on 1 June 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
24. "Control of Pollution Act 1974". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Archived from the original on 17 August 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
25. "The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002". www.legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 1 December 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
26. "The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986". www.legislation.gov.uk. Expert Participation. Archived from the original on 2 May 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.