What Do Blue Lights on a Vehicle Mean in New York?

Have you ever been driving and seen a car with blue lights and thought it was an undercover cop or something? Yeah, I have too but it’s not.

Volunteer firefighters are some of the unsung heroes among us and they put their lives on the line for us. They do this for free because they want too and it can be a tough and thankless job.

The use of the blue lights on their vehicles lets everyone know that they are in their own vehicles on their own time and responding to an emergency. Volunteer firefighters are allowed to use the blue light, but it cannot be used for their personal use.

The light is only supposed to be used when the volunteer firefighters want everyone to know they are responding to an emergency. Anyone who uses their blue light when they're not responding to an emergency can find themselves with some pretty big fines.

If you're a volunteer firefighter in New York, you can get written authorization from your fire department's chief to put a blue light on your vehicle. Here is something else that you may not know but if you're a family member or work for a business that supports a volunteer firefighter, you can also put a blue light on your vehicle.

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So, the next time you see a volunteer firefighter driving with a blue light on, give them a break and move over. They have volunteered their time to protect our community and for that, we say "thanks for all that you do."