New rules enabling roadside assistance and vehicle recovery operators to use red flashing lights will “unequivocally” help save lives, according to the RAC.
After decades of campaigning from industry groups, roadside recovery, removal and tyre industry operators can now apply for a Vehicle Special Order (VSO) that will allow operators or technicians to use red lamps on their vehicles, alongside the usual amber ones.
Red flashing lamps have only been allowed for use by the emergency services until now and the new rules will make roadside workers visible at the roadside.
The original announcement around red flashing lamps formed part of the previous government’s Plan for Drivers and was followed by an evidence review.
Roadside rescue and recovery operators can now apply to the Vehicle Certification Agency to use rear-facing red flashing lights under specified operating conditions.
RAC chief operating officer Dom Shorrocks said: “This is a landmark day for the roadside assistance industry as being able to use red flashing lamps will unequivocally improve the visibility of roadside workers and help save lives.
“There have been too many tragic collisions where lives have been lost involving stationary recovery vehicles at the sides of high-speed roads where more prominent red lights might have made a difference. This is why we have long been calling for roadside assistance workers and recovery drivers, including our own, to be allowed to use red flashing lamps alongside the customary amber ones.”
Guidance from the Department for Transport specifies that the vehicle must be in use for an accident or breakdown and in the immediate vicinity of an accident or breakdown.
The lights must also be linked to a functioning vehicle interlock which permits their activation only when the vehicle is stationary or travelling at a speed not exceeding 5mph.
Operators must also commit to industry-approved training arrangements for drivers operating vehicles fitted with rear-facing red flashing lamps, such as the Professional Recovery Operators Safety Executive (PROSE).
PROSE has said that there is expected to be a considerable interest and demand for the issuing of a VSO for red flashing lights.
