Special warning signal of vehicle

The special warning signals are devices making it possible to announce Véhicule S having a particular mission, in general:

• is whose positioning makes them vulnerable to the accidents: vehicles of work on the roadway, vehicles of intervention in the event of accident, vehicles slow or cumbersome (Heavy load);
• is whose mission is emergency autrisant them to free itself from certain constraints of circulation (tricolor fires, priorities…) like the vehicles of police force, firemen, Ambulance S.

• the sound signalling Hooter “Horn”;
• calls of headlight, alternation headlights dipped/full headlights;
• indicators;
• hazard warning lights ( warning );
• side-lights: front lanterns, red lights back;
• fires of stop.

One has two types of special warning signals typically:

• sound signalling hooters (Siren S)
• warning lights:
• gyrophares (revolving fires), invented at the beginning of the 20th century by Julien Pecoud-Grooving plane, Lyons gendarme who recommended their diffusion with the whole of the official vehicles;
• flash-lights (flashes) , being able to be placed on the roof or of course before vehicle, sometimes inside optics of headlight (fires known as “of penetration”), or with the back;
• “automatic calls of headlight”: the headlights before left and right alternate dipped headlights/full headlights in opposition.

Special warning signals in France

In France, one distinguishes three types of vehicles being entitled to the special warning signals:

; slow or cumbersome vehicles:

they are equipped with gyrophares or flash-lights orange or Jaune;

that includes/understands the tractors and reaping-machines threshing-machines, the heavy loads, the vehicles of intervention and work on the road, the street sweepers;

; vehicles of general interest profiting from facilities of passage:

they are equipped with flash-lights Bleu S and of sound signalling hooters known as “let us trois-tons”: alternation of the notes “C-semi-C silence …”

that includes/understands the Ambulance S of transport medical, conveys intervention of Électricité de France and Gaz de France, security service of the National company of the railroads French, transport of funds of the Banque de France, medical associations contributing to the permanence of the care, of the doctors when they take part in the departmental guard, machine of winter maintenance (for example salting of the roads) and, on Autoroute S or roads with two separated roadways, vehicle of intervention of the administrative services of these ways;

; vehicles of priority general interest:

they are equipped with gyrophares blue and of sirens known as “let us deux-tons”: alternation of two notes uninterrupted

* police force and gendarmerie: “D it…” one half-second each one

* firemen: “if it…” one second each one

* Smur: “F it…” one second each one

vehicle of the services of police force, Gendarmerie, the Customs S, help and the fire protection organizations, intervention of the hospital mobile units and the affected ministry for justice to the transport of the prisoners.