The Mysterious Blue Flash
Have you ever gotten that mysterious gut feeling where you just know something is wrong. Like when a family member doesn’t show up when they said they’d be there, or doesn’t call when they say they will. That’s the feeling that is far too frequently felt by those with loved ones in the towing industry.
Working at roadside to save people is scary and down right nerve racking. As a tow operator, we want to spend as little time on the side of the road as possible. It’s a fine line between safe and fast. We always ask ourselves: Do I take time to set up a “safe” scene?
It also means tearing it down later.
Or do I just boogie, risk my butt, load the car, and get out of there?
Alberta has taken a step to make ‘Tow Trucks’ a little safer at roadside, or at least trial to see if there’s benefit. The Alberta Government announced in June that a “Pilot Project to allow blue lights on Tow Trucks” will start on June 30. It will last one year. A huge step that many parties and companies have been requesting for years. There is some legislation in progress to make it legal officially, BILL 207 which we spoke about before.
But what does this mean? Specifically, what does the ‘Pilot’ really mean. It was announced from the government with fewer details than most. We have heard many rumours in the industry. This has caused some hysteria about what is allowed and what is not. Tuber takes great pride in “doing it right.” We want to do what is best for the public, our business, and the industry as a whole. With little direction from the government or other lobbying agencies, we decided to create our own policy.
What we know (Quick Facts):
- In Saskatchewan, Tow Trucks are permitted to use Amber and Blue lights, this includes ‘service trucks’
- In Manitoba, Tow Trucks are permitted to use Amber and Red lights but,
- Cannot have more than 2 red lights
- Must be visible for at least 150m
- Must automatically disable when vehicle is in motion
- Must not be used on roadways less than 60km/h
To our knowledge, tow trucks use amber lights across Canada. In some provinces, white lights are common, but may not be legal.
Bill 207 recommends changes to Alberta’s Traffic Safety Act (TSA).
It would add wording such as: “A tow truck may be equipped with warning lamps that combine amber and blue.”
That’s a great start. Okay, let’s put our heads together. For the Pilot Program, let’s assume Bill 207 is active. In order to do that we must fully understand the legislation in existence = and how Bill 207 impacts it. By changing the TSA, it may not make the changes needed. Tow trucks in Alberta may still not be allowed to use blue lights. For example, Vehicle Equipment Regulation Section 31(1) says this. A tow truck must have one or more amber warning lamps.
To allow blue lights, this section would also need an update.
Section 31(2) provides guidelines around when to and when not to use the lights. This section is written vague enough that it could be applied to blue lights as well. There’s no change here.
Section 31(3), here’s something interesting. “A vehicle, other than a tow truck, may have amber warning lamps visible from all directions outside the vehicle. The vehicle must be operated by an association that helps people with stopped vehicles on a highway. It may also be operated by a towing business, service station, or garage.“ This answers a question many might have had. “Tow Truck” is not defined in the legislation. Because of that, one could assume subsection 3 refers to “service trucks.” These trucks may be owned by towing companies. They may provide similar roadside services.
Okay, we’ve determined that Bill 207 needs a few minor legislative edits to proceed.
These edits haven’t caused any roadblocks or limits. At this point, it seems that, for the “Pilot,” both tow trucks and service trucks can have blue lights. But before you go and spend $20,000 changing over the lights on your fleet, lets consider a few things.
- This is a PILOT Project. After one year, things may return to the way they were. Blue Lights may not be allowed.
- Please consider this. The investment you make in blue lights for the pilot project may be needed again. You may need to spend time or money. This would revert your equipment back to amber only
- Do we really want to run blue lights viewable from 360° of the truck? Keep in mind that Police are the only other vehicles that use Blue Lights in the province. To prevent confusion with the public, should we only run blue lights rear facing? Arriving on scene along a highway to help a client may lead someone to mistake you for a Peace Officer. This is unlikely, but it could still concern the public. Perhaps we can find a way to identify Tow related trucks from police. Granted, police use red and blue lights.
Tow units use amber and blue lights, so there is some separation.
But people who are not very aware may confuse amber with blue.
This depends on the quality of the lights used. Maybe we can put the words ‘TOW’ on the top of our windshield or something of that nature. - Should the “Blue” lights be automatically limited to work only when the vehicle is not moving? This could reduce the risk of accidental confusion.
- We’re all human, sometimes we forget to turn off our lights. Police do it too and they are quickly reminded when people they are following start pulling over randomly. “‘Oh crap’ comes to mind. With that in mind, if people pull over for tow trucks, that’s a quick sign. We should turn off our lights.” Although, again, may create a negative public perception.
- 4) Public Education, many of us in the Industry and striving for change, steering away from the stereotype. Although, there are still people out there who live up to the old stereotype and scam people out of money. We are concerned that these individuals will add more blue than amber lights to their trucks. They may claim to be “Police Towing” or something similar. Without awareness campaigns the public is more at risk of scams from the not so good towing companies.
After reviewing the above, Tuber Towing will outfit some tow trucks, deck trucks, and service trucks with blue lights. We plan to make the changes fleet wide within a couple weeks of the start of the Pilot. We will regularly poll out team on how they feel the ‘blue’ lights are impacting their safety at roadside. We will use this forum to communicate those findings as time permits. This is the time for ‘trail and error’ type events to happen.
We will also be sharing this message on our social media and working with @TuberTaylor to spread the word. It is imperative that the public be made aware of this Pilot Project. Though it won’t take long, the public will share their observations. Blue Lights on Tow Trucks may surprise some people at first.
After all, the decision makers on this topic cannot learn about it without clear information. Stay tuned!
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