Yellow for speed and safety by Martin Hayes
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A CONTROVERSY has developed within the fire service concerning the best colour for fire appliances. The Home Office, which is the body responsible for administering the brigades, says a standard red is the most desirable and recommends its adoption throughout the service. On the other hand a few enlightened fire authorities claim science can back up their arguments that red is by no means the safest and most effective colour available.
It seems most probable that red was chosen as the colour for fire appliances way back when pumps were hauled by men or horses, because of the association of the colour with fire. But in those days of slower speeds and less traffic density, the value of making the appliances have maximum impact was relatively unimportant. Now, however, conditions have changed. Traffic is much faster and heavier and a large proportion of the emergency calls the brigade must answer occur at night. Yet despite these enormous changes the fire engine has, until recently, universally retained its traditional colour and design. Foremost among the brigades which have been engaged in research into the design of the modern appliance is the Coventry force, under its energetic chief fire officer, Mr Albert Leese.
Mr Leese took over at Coventry in 1961 and during his first years undertook a major study of the role of the fire engine within modern traffic conditions. As a result of his research the appliances he ordered began to take on a new appearance. The existing machines had not really developed very much from the days when a motor was simply substituted for the horse. For example, equipment, of which there was a steadily growing amount, was stowed in a large number of lockers spread around the vehicle. Most of these lockers had upward opening doors which had to be propped up when open.
The ladder 'was carried on top of the vehicle, which was already cluttered with bells, lights and other impedimenta. This meant that cleaning was a long and involved process. The Coventry brigade had always ordered Rolls-Royce petrol-engined Dennis appliances so an approach was made to Dennis for a redesigned machine. When finally delivered, the new-style appliance had only two large lockers on each side, reached by quick-opening roller shutters. The ladder had been contained, almost within the coachwork and the top of the machine cleared of all unnecessary pieces of equipment. It could be cleaned down in a matter of minutes.
Coventry also became the first brigade to fit its appliances with compressors enabling an ever-increasing range of power tools to be carried. The steady increase in the number of calls involving motorway incidents — where victims are often trapped has made these all the more important. But the biggest change about the new engines was their colour: they were yellow, not red.
The reasoning behind Coventry's decision to switch colours — and it has since been copied by a number of brigades — was complex. It began when Mr Leese asked himself one day: is red the best? His doubts about the colour dated back to the war. During black-out conditions red appliances had been very difficult to see but, of course, that was the least of the problems then facing the brigade. After the war one of the main changes in night-time road conditions was the growth of sodium, mercury and fluorescent street lighting systems. Mr Leese noted that under many of these his red engines appeared black. Gradually, as traffic congestion increased. there was mounting evidence to show that other road users were slow to notice fire engines. Mr Leese decided that something needed to be done. Accordingly, he asked scientists at Coventry's Lanchester College of Technology to look into the problem.
The report that the Lanchester boffins produced supported Mr Leese's theories that red was by no means the best colour and that yellow was more likely to be effective. The report showed that the human eye was far more sensitive to yellow than any other colour in the spectrum. Yellow, with the exception of white, was the colour least changed under a number of different lighting systems. (White was ruled out because of possible problems in snow and the difficulty of maintenance.) The report concluded that yellow was clearly the most effective colour for attracting attention to fire engines under all lighting conditions. Concerning a possible change from red the report stated: "Precepts which may have given rise to the original choice of colour are now outmoded and invalid and must give way to practicability under modern conditions". Yet it seems that it was just this idea of breaking with tradition which was — and indeed, still is — the limiting factor for many authorities.
Coventry brigade, with the full backing of its local authority, went ahead and began a programmed introduction of yellow appliances. All new vehicles were ordered in the colour and older vehicles — normally repainted two or three times in their 12or 15-year life — began to get the treatment. With 40 or so vehicles and a relatively slow turnover the programme is not yet quite completed and there' are still three red engines left.
Mr Leese first wrote to the Home Office in 1965 about the desirability of changing the colour of fire appliances. Apart from receiving an acknowledgement and despite several reminders he heard nothing more until February of this year when he received, along with all other chief fire officers, a circular containing the report of a Home Office committee into the subject.
That this committee was set up at least five, years ago — because of Mr Leese's activities in this field is not disputed. However, it seems that the committee, which was made up of representatives of the Home Office and the Fire Brigade Advisory Council, took little note of the research work at Coventry.
lust how useful the colour has been in Coventry is, of course, hard to quantify. In the first three years officers in charge of yellow-painted appliances were asked to report on the ease of negotiating traffic. All reported that they were being spotted by other road users much earlier than with red vehicles, and thus the road became clearer, quicker. Spot-checks among drivers showed that they had been able to see the yellow engines far more easily than previously. An added advantage of the colour change was the better advance warning high-speed traffic had of appliances when they were stationary attending motorway accidents. All this seemed to have little effect on the committee, however.
Its report quotes the work of the Transport and Road Research Laboratory which has found that yellow is the safest colour. The report admits that red is not the best colour for emergency vehicles and even goes on to quote examples of leading fleet operators who have switched to yellow. These include the Post Office's engineering division which has changed from a dull green to yellow for enhanced safety and National Carriers Ltd which opted for a yellow livery because many of its vehicles operated in rail goods yards overnight and needed to be seen easily. Despite all this evidence the committee concluded that the benefits of changing from red to yellow would be "only marginal" and went on to recommend that all appliances should in future be painted red. This is now official Home Office policy.
"My firemen need any help they can get, marginal or not", is Mr Leese's sharp retort to the report. Coventry Corporation backed him fully and the switch to yellow will continue. It seems that only a few other authorities will have the courage to pursue this policy, though. Whether they may be forced by union pressure to repaint and flaunt Home Office policy following an incident where a fireman is injured in an
incident where yellow might have saved him, is questionable. Perhaps then the Home Office might opt for science instead of tradition.
Spurred on by the results of his research into vehicle colour, Mr Leese has been examining the dubious efficiency of the blue flashing light used by all emergency vehicles. According to him, the use of this light was first adopted by Himmler during the last war when a light giving the minimum chance of being seen from the air was required. With the assistance of the Plessey company, Mr Leese has been able to show that blue is the least effective colour to have been adopted. For the same light power, the•amount of light transmitted through a blue filter is only 24 per cent compared with white 100, yellow 45, amber 36, green 20 and red 18. But he is pessimistic about any possible change. The most effective colours — yellow or amber — are widely used at road works, red is
Blue spoken for by airport vehicles and even
1000 C.P.
Light green is now being used by various doctors'
emergency services.
The development of appliances to meet modern conditions has not finished in Coventry, however. With annual calls numbering more than 3000 and a total area of 80 square miles to cover from four stations, this is obviously a subject of continuing importance. A completely new engine is to be delivered next month by the HCB-Angus concern. This will retain a Rolls-Royce petrol engine mounted in a special Bedford chassis with a Turner five-speed gearbox and a Coventry Climax pump. This vehicle, which has been designed entirely to Coventry's specification but which could well prove popular with other brigades, is 211 shorter and 6in. narrower than previous vehicles. It has a coach-built body — an increasing dislike of the Dennis fibreglass body is one reason for changing suppliers — and been built with performance much in mind. Manual transmission has been chosen after experiments with Allison automatic boxes which are felt to restrict performance too much and are usually overridden anyway. (Automatic transmission coupled with an automatic choke -another feature experimented with and now discarded — can account for as much as 40 bhp, it has been discovered.) Coventry's new engines will be capable of sustained 70 mph cruising. Even though average journeys are between four and five miles long there are occasional motorway trips that call for this type of performance. The new vehicle is the product of months of development work. Among features which have been prepared especially to Coventry's exacting specifications are: a completely new front cowl; a revised gearbox and axle ratios to give maximum performance; and close attention to sound deadening.
The new appliances have been designed around Mr Leese's three exacting priorities: the engine; the type of fire risk to be covered; and the type of hydrant available. Needless to say they will be painted yellow. It seems a pity that more appliances cannot match them. Surely any break in tradition which might, however "marginally", save a life is worthwhile?
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