LETTER OF THE WEEK
Page 13
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Are 911’s lights legal?
I WAS SURPRISED to see in your latest issue a recovery vehicle that appears to be liveried in a yellow and blue retro-relective battenburg pattern. I was astonished to read further on that 911 Recovery MD Stephen Greenhorn is “the only Police Special Constable serving in the trafic section in the UK” , a position that one would hope would equip him with some knowledge of vehicle legislation.
While the legislation governing the use of such a livery is fairly complex, the following notes from the Explanatory Memorandum should help the operator: “Road vehicle lighting regulations require that retro-relective markings on the sides of vehi cles that are intended to make the vehicle more visible must be amber in colour. Retro-relective markings of other colours such as the blue, green or red schemes used in the battenburg pattern are currently prohibited unless the Secretary of State for Transport has issued an order under section 44 of the Road Trafic Act 1988 (‘a special order’).” Of course, if the livery’s appearance of being retro-relective is a trick of the light, and/or the operator has been granted a special order, then please disregard this.
Stanley Boyd Crawley, West Sussex