Police Lights

When you’re driving down the road and you see those bright blue and red flashing lights in your rearview mirror, odds are you know immediately that those are police lights. Whether you’ve ever been pulled over or you’ve just seen plenty of cop movies or TV shows, those lights are absolutely unmistakable. Many times, the police use their lights to get peoples’ attention, chase down the bad guys, or direct traffic. Regardless of the reason, police lights are designed to get your attention. Sometimes, a police officer will turn on his or her lights briefly, just to give motorists a warning to slow down. Just the flashing of these lights can scare most people into obeying the speed limit. Before police cars, most cops used motorcycles and this began in the early 1900’s. It really wasn’t until the 1920’s that police officers really began to drive vehicles commonly. Just about every single make and model of vehicle has been used as a standard police car at some point in time, and the lights are the one thing that has remained constant.

Police lights are typically blue and red here in the United States, but they are not necessarily the same colors in other parts of the world. For example, most European police lights flash a bright yellow. In the case of an undercover officer, however, the usually obvious light bar attached to the top of the car may not be there. In this case the lights are usually inside the car, and the officer will place one single blue light at the top of the car’s roof when he is getting ready to pull someone over. In some cases, undercover police lights are also located inside the car in the back window. No matter where they’re located or what colors are used, these lights are something everyone should respect whenever they see them.