An Act Regarding Emergency Lights on a Vehicle Used by a Member of a Municipal or Volunteer Fire or Emergency Medical Services Department
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0037
Committee: Transportation
Sponsors: EVANGELOS
Amends: 29-A MRSA §2054

Legislative Document 
No. 37 
H.P. 35 
House of Representatives, January 13, 2015 
An Act Regarding Emergency Lights on a Vehicle Used by a 
Member of a Municipal or Volunteer Fire or Emergency Medical 
Services Department 
Reference to the Committee on Transportation suggested and ordered printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative EVANGELOS of Friendship.  (BY REQUEST) 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  29-A MRSA §2054, sub-§2, ¶C, as amended by PL 2013, c. 462, §4, is 
further amended to read: 
C.  The use of amber lights on vehicles is governed by the following. 
(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: 
F.  Only vehicles listed in this paragraph, rural mail vehicles as provided in paragraph 
C, subparagraph (5) and school buses may be equipped with, display or use a red 
auxiliary or emergency light. 
(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.