encounter with black suburban

[captn-tin]

Recently (06-04) my wife, dog, and i were on our way back from the mountains, headed towards sacremento on 80. a mile or so before the light rail station. We were in the fast lane keeping up with the flow of traffic, when out of the blue a late model suburban type rig, either black or dark blue with blue lights flashing appeared RIGHT ON MY TAIL. I pulled to center lane as fast as possible, and he was immediately on the tail of the car that was in front of me and so on down the line. The light bar system looked almost fake to me, especially the rear ones that were on the inside of the rig. No siren.
Anyone out there know of any agency that has rigs like this. It sure wasn"t a regular L E agency.
Thanks for any input....captn-tin

[bluestaterebel]

Red lights are what is needed for emergency vehicles in this state

[Fire in the Hole]

Don't know. Lots of agencies use large SUV's. In CA only LE vehs. can display blue lights. Fire and Ambulances can not. However they must display at least one solid burning red light. Flashing reds, or blues are optional. If it was LE there had to be a forward facing red light somewhere.

[blackberg]

doesnt secret service and bomb squad use black subs and tahoes?

I saw a similar one on friday, was black with blue and red flashing light in the inside, no siren, but had exempt plates, he was in the #1 lane I was in the #3 and it flew by
-bb

[bluestaterebel]

Just because you dont hear a siren doesnt mean they dont have one.

[Fire in the Hole]

doesnt secret service and bomb squad use black subs and tahoes?
I saw a similar one on friday, was black with blue and red flashing light in the inside, no siren, but had exempt plates, he was in the #1 lane I was in the #3 and it flew by
-bb

Yes they do, but if that veh. is assigned to a CA office it will have the red light as well. It can be mounted in the grill so to not be obvious when turned off. The sirens do not necessarilly need to be activated just because the emergency lights are on. Especially on freeways. But on the other hand, sirens can't just be run independant of the emergency lights.

You said it had exempt plates. If they were CA exempt plates, that rules out a Federal veh. Because the Feds use U.S. Government plates.

[captn-tin]

There could have been a red light. Don't remember for sure. I'm sure there was no siren. Wife says rig did not have exempt type plates. Dog says nothing.

[Fire in the Hole]

doesnt secret service and bomb squad use black subs and tahoes?

I saw a similar one on friday, was black with blue and red flashing light in the inside, no siren, but had exempt plates, he was in the #1 lane I was in the #3 and it flew by
-bb

This really confuses me. Was there a big disco ball hanging from the top deck? I would think that flashing lights just activated on the inside would be most distracting to the driver. Was this vehicle on its way to the Playboy Mansion, with a driver in his late 70's smoking a pipe and wearing silk pajamas driving?

[blackberg]

they are usually top mounted on the inside on the windshield, they are blackedout on the inside,

-bb

This really confuses me. Was there a big disco ball hanging from the top deck? I would think that flashing lights just activated on the inside would be most distracting to the driver. Was this vehicle on its way to the Playboy Mansion, with a driver in his late 70's smoking a pipe and wearing silk pajamas driving?

[bluestaterebel]

But on the other hand, sirens can't just be run independant of the emergency lights.

Really? It must be your set-up, cause, i can do it.

[Fire in the Hole]

they are usually top mounted on the inside on the windshield, they are blackedout on the inside, -bb

Oh, is that what was ment? I loved those Kojack lights.

[Fire in the Hole]

Really? It must be your set-up, cause, i can do it.

There have been a whole lot of variations designed by various manufactures over the years. And any Dept. can write their own specs up for submission, or have their own Auto Techs, modify the wiring after the fact.

[1911su16b870]

FWIW All you need in CA is a solid red light in front.

[CSDGuy]

Yes they do, but if that veh. is assigned to a CA office it will have the red light as well. It can be mounted in the grill so to not be obvious when turned off. The sirens do not necessarilly need to be activated just because the emergency lights are on. Especially on freeways. But on the other hand, sirens can't just be run independant of the emergency lights.

You said it had exempt plates. If they were CA exempt plates, that rules out a Federal veh. Because the Feds use U.S. Government plates.

I've never seen a requirement that the siren be hard-wired to run that way... not that one could be wired that way.

Really? It must be your set-up, cause, i can do it.

I drove ambulances for a living... and have worked with and around a couple Fire Departments over the years. None of those sirens were hard-wired to be active only with the red light on... Most were wired into the horn for hands-free use.

There have been a whole lot of variations designed by various manufactures over the years. And any Dept. can write their own specs up for submission, or have their own Auto Techs, modify the wiring after the fact.

Most siren units I've seen aren't integrated into the lighting control package. They're stand-alone units that just need a power supply and a 100 or 200 watt speaker.

FWIW All you need in CA is a solid red light in front.

Yep. Siren? Wig-wag headlights? Flashing blue lights? Flashing reds? Sure, they're nice to have, but as long as you've got the steady red burning lamp that is visible for 1,000 feet under normal daylight atmospheric conditions...

[fullrearview]

You where in Sac County??

SED, Sac Counties SWAT team, has a few of these for take home vehicles. They are nice rigs.