vonhosen wrote:Only an emergency vehicle as defined by Reg 3 RVLR 1989 can.
Fire Brigade
Ambulance
Police
SOCA
A vehicle owned by a body formed primarily for the purposes of fire salvage and used for those or similar purposes.
A vehicle owned by the Forestry Commission or by a local authority and used from time to time for the purposes of fighting fires.
A vehicle owned or operated by the Secretary of State for Defence and used-
(i) for the purposes of the disposal of bombs or explosives,
(ii) for the purpose of any activity-
(a) which prevents or decreases the exposure of persons to radiation arising from a radiation accident or radiation emergency, or
(b) in connection with any event which could lead to a radiation accident or radiation emergency;
(iii) by the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service for the purposes of rescue operations or any other emergencies.
A vehicle primarily used for the purposes of the Blood Transfusion Service provided under the National Health Service Act 1977 or under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978.
A vehicle used by Her Majesty's Coastguard or Coastguard Auxiliary Service for the purposes of giving aid to persons in danger or vessels in distress on or near the coast.
A vehicle owned by the British Coal Corporation and used for the purposes of rescue operations at mines.
A vehicle owned by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and used for the purposes of launching lifeboats.
A vehicle primarily used for the purposes of conveying any human tissue for transplanting or similar purposes.
A vehicle under the lawful control of the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and used from time to time for the investigation of serious crime.
A bit more useful info: Reg 3 RVLR 1989 was amended by The Road Vehicles Lighting (Amendment) Regulations 2005.
At that time two bodies under the control of the Secretary of State for Defence were named (the Naval Emergency Monitoring Organisation and the RAF Armament Support Unit) as permitted to use blue lights to prevent or respond to incidents involving nuclear weapons. Due to internal MOD reorganisation, these bodies are now both defunct and therefore the lighting regulations were amended to "ensure that blue lights continue to be permitted on vehicles that are used to prevent or respond to emergencies that involve radioactive material".
Also, during the consultation, the Mountain Rescue Council (MRC) requested to be explicitly added to the list of Emergency vehicles. They advised that although they and Cave Rescue teams have used blue flashing lights and sirens for many years under the belief that their vehicles fall under the definition of a "vehicle used for fire brigade, ambulance and police purposes", some police forces interpret the regulations differently. The MRC asked for a separate entry for their vehicles as Emergency vehicles in the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations.
The Law wasn't changed however because giving MRC vehicles a specific mention in the RVLR might actually have had the effect of eliminating the ability of these vehicles to be exempt from other aspects of road traffic law (RTA predominantly) - speed limits and ability to treat red traffic lights as Give Way signs, are restricted to vehicles used for "Fire Brigade, Police and Ambulance purposes" by the pertinent Acts or Regulations. The presence of an explicit statement in RVLR that MRC is a particular category of Emergency vehicle for the purposes of entitlement to blue lights, might be construed to mean that they are NOT in the category "Fire Brigade, Police or Ambulance purposes". Therefore, if read across to other laws this would imply that they are not entitled to the other privileges which are extended to Emergency vehicles.