An Act Regarding Emergency Lights on a Vehicle Used by a Member of a Municipal or Volunteer Fire or Emergency Medical Services Department
Sec. 1. 29-A MRSA §2054, sub-§2, ¶C, as amended by PL 2013, c. 462, §4, is further amended to read:
(1) A vehicle engaged in highway maintenance or in emergency rescue operations by emergency management and public safety agencies and a public utility emergency service vehicle may be equipped with auxiliary lights that emit an amber light.
(1-A) A Department of Labor motor vehicle operated by a workplace safety inspector may be equipped with auxiliary lights that emit an amber light.
(2) A wrecker must be equipped with a flashing light mounted on top of the vehicle in such a manner as to emit an amber light over a 360` 360-degree angle. The light must be in use on a public way or a place where public traffic may reasonably be anticipated when servicing, freeing, loading, unloading or towing a vehicle.
(3) A vehicle engaged in snow removal or sanding operations on a public way must be equipped with and display an auxiliary light that provides visible light coverage over a 360` 360-degree range. The light must emit an amber beam of light and be equipped with a blinking or strobe light function and have sufficient intensity to be visible at 500 feet in normal daylight. When the left wing of a plow is in operation and extends over the center of the road, an auxiliary light must show the extreme end of the left wing. That light may be attached to the vehicle so that the beam of light points at the left wing. The light illuminating the left wing may be controlled by a separate switch or by the regular lighting system and must be in operation at all times when the vehicle is used for plowing snow on public ways.
(4) A vehicle equipped and used for plowing snow on other than public ways may be equipped with an auxiliary rotary flashing light that must be mounted on top of the vehicle in such a manner as to emit an amber beam of light over a 360` 360-degree angle, or an amber strobe, or combination of strobes, that emits at a minimum a beam of 50 candlepower and provides visible light coverage over a 360` 360-degree range. The light may be in use on a public way only when the vehicle is entering the public way in the course of plowing private driveways and other off-highway locations.
(5) A rural mail vehicle may be equipped with auxiliary lights.
(a) The lights used to the front must be white or amber, or any shade between white and amber.
(b) The lights used to the rear must be amber or red, or any shade between amber and red.
(c) The lights, whether used to the front or rear, must be mounted at the same level and as widely spaced laterally as possible.
(d) The lights, whether used to the front or rear, must flash simultaneously.
(e) The lights must be visible from a distance of at least 500 feet in normal daylight.
(6) A vehicle used or provided by a contract security company to assist in traffic control and direction at construction or maintenance sites on a public way may be equipped with amber auxiliary lights.
(7) A Department of Public Safety vehicle operated by a motor carrier inspector or motor vehicle inspector may be equipped with auxiliary lights that emit an amber light.
(8) A vehicle used by an animal control officer appointed pursuant to Title 7, section 3947 may be equipped with auxiliary lights that emit a flashing amber light.
(9) A refuse, garbage or trash business vehicle used by an individual to transport refuse, garbage and trash may be equipped with auxiliary lights that emit a flashing amber light.
(10) A vehicle used by an individual to transport and deliver newspapers may be equipped with auxiliary lights that emit a flashing amber light.
(11) A vehicle used by a member of a municipal or volunteer fire department or an emergency medical service may be equipped with auxiliary lights that emit an amber light as permitted by paragraph F.
Sec. 2. 29-A MRSA §2054, sub-§2, ¶F, as amended by PL 2005, c. 299, §1, is further amended to read:
(1) Emergency lights used on an ambulance, an emergency medical service vehicle, a fire department vehicle, a fire vehicle, a rescue vehicle or a hazardous material response vehicle must emit a red light or a combination of red and white light.
(2) The municipal officers or a municipal official designated by the municipal officers, with the approval of the fire chief, may authorize an active member of a municipal or volunteer fire department to use one red or combination red and white flashing auxiliary light mounted as near as practicable above the front registration plate on the front of the vehicle, behind the rearview mirror in the windshield or on the dashboard or , 2 flashing red or combination red and white auxiliary lights mounted on the front of the vehicle above the front bumper and below the hood and red, amber or combination red and amber auxiliary lights mounted in the rear window area. The light or lights may be displayed but may be used only while the member is en route to or at the scene of a fire or other emergency. A light mounted on the dashboard or behind the rearview mirror in the windshield must be shielded so that the emitted light does not interfere with the operator's vision. The use of lights may be revoked at any time by the fire chief.
(3) Members of an emergency medical service licensed by Maine Emergency Medical Services may display and use on a vehicle red or combination red and white combination flashing auxiliary lights and red, amber or combination red and amber auxiliary lights of the same proportion, in the same location and under the same conditions as those permitted municipal and volunteer firefighters, when authorized by the chief official of the emergency medical service. The use of lights may be revoked at any time by the chief official of the emergency medical service.
summary
This bill increases the number of emergency lights allowed on personal vehicles used by firefighters and emergency medical service personnel by increasing the number of such lights allowed on the front of the vehicles and allowing such lights on the rear of the vehicles.