Hey guys, I'm wondering if all cars need yellow/amber traffic advisors. I'm trying to make a car pack and I don't like the way the yellow lights look on it, and I don't know where else to put it. I looked on youtube for lighting patterns and its 50-50 to me, some have them others don't. I guess it might be a state by state thing. Anyway will reverse and taillights be sufficient enough or do people want yellow warning lights?

if you had to put yellow adviser lights on most of them are in the rear window shelf. but why dont you try and put them on top behind the light bar. to me it doesn't matter. I like to see more chevy caprices. what ever you decide I am sure it be good

I personally love having lightbars in the rear window, as opposed to having it behind the main lightbar. There are many cars out there that don't have traffic advisors, but some people (like me) love them.

The vast majority of states don't require *any* sort of traffic advisor, and not all departments use them. However, police cars practically have to have some sort of emergency lighting facing backwards for visibility purposes, and taillights generally aren't enough - they're just not visible enough.

Ok, thanks guys. I think I'm going try and map yellow lights to a code 3 xt6 

There are only maybe 1 or 2 in all of Halifax that have TA's in the back window & they aren't even Traffic Services Cruisers & they are slicktops, only the slicktops have them, but now that the Crown Vic is being faded out & the amount of people that don't pay attention to amber lights, those TA's are being faded out as well.

I'm personally against the belief that all cars need TA's. I'm speaking in regards to GTA IV models of course. Seems every car released has a TA of some sort - even slicktops and unmarkeds. I think it's completely unnecessary. There's TONS of departments IRL that make no use of TA's whatsoever, and ELS has secondary functions for non TA applications. I just don't get why most people default to using TA's. I mean, think of how many slicktop/unmarked cars are available with...wait for it... a forward full-visor width lightbar and a TA in the rear deck. Yawn.

 

/mild rant

 

Anyway's, what I'm trying to say is this: Go ahead and break the mold. Screw using a TA. Get creative and find other uses for secondaries, even if you just use them to make a more interesting primary pattern. Good luck! 

I'm personally against the belief that all cars need TA's. I'm speaking in regards to GTA IV models of course. Seems every car released has a TA of some sort - even slicktops and unmarkeds. I think it's completely unnecessary. There's TONS of departments IRL that make no use of TA's whatsoever, and ELS has secondary functions for non TA applications. I just don't get why most people default to using TA's. I mean, think of how many slicktop/unmarked cars are available with...wait for it... a forward full-visor width lightbar and a TA in the rear deck. Yawn.

 

/mild rant

 

Anyway's, what I'm trying to say is this: Go ahead and break the mold. Screw using a TA. Get creative and find other uses for secondaries, even if you just use them to make a more interesting primary pattern. Good luck! 

This is the answer I was looking for, thanks

Well, in not so many words that's pretty much what I was saying lol

Well, in not so many words that's pretty much what I was saying lol

lol true

Not really, but it would be recommend to have one in the front and rear end of the car so at least the civilians are notified of what's there to be advised or warned about. 

 

Most of the agencies where I've lived do not use traffic advisors. They almost all do have some sort of amber lights facing the rear of the car though, whether a simple amber flasher in the rear window or something integrated into the light bar. I believe State law here requires all public service vehicles display some sort of amber to the rear.

 

I actually did some research on lighting packages recently and found a traffic study that showed that drivers slowed down noticeably for multiple colors like a mix of red / blue / amber, more so than if any one single color was used. The study was conducted by placing a stationary light display in the shoulder featuring different light configurations, colors, and patterns, and an observer was monitoring traffic speed on radar and  visually monitoring lane changes away from the light display. Volunteers were also polled via survey about their opinions of certain light colors and their meanings. The conclusion of the research team was that a majority of drivers associate amber lights with tow trucks or other civilian service vehicles, red lights with fire or medical vehicles, and blue lights with police vehicles. The poll also determined that drivers most often assumed a severe incident had occurred, and slowed down and moved over more frequently when they saw a mix of light colors and patterns.

 

The same study also showed that amber alone showed almost no decrease in driver speed or change in behavior, where as use of red and/or blue resulted in driver speed reductions and lane changes away from the lights, and a mix of all 3 colors resulted in the greatest speed reductions and lane changes. So, the research study determined that a mix of different light colors can give drivers the impression that there are multiple vehicles from various sources on the road, and that motivates more drivers to slow down or move over, thus a mixed combination of various light colors and patterns was recommended as optimal for safety.

 

The study was conducted by the Texas Department of Transportation some years ago when they were equipping the DOT vehicles with new lights, which now use a standard amber / blue configuration on all DOT vehicles instead of their previous all amber configuration.

 

Long story short, everyone has an opinion on light colors and uses. Ignoring the research I've done and the traffic study I've found, my opinion has always been that traffic advisors are pointless and there are better ways to use lights on vehicles. If you want to make a vehicle without one, then go for it.

Edited May 27, 201411 yr by johnclark1102

I'll be honest the three departments I've served with never had any amber/yellow indicator lights. I've been hoping to see more models that are well done without any traffic advisor bars or yellow lights. I think there are an abundance of vehicle models with clear lightbars and traffic advisor lights. I think it would be nice to see some vehicle models, especially CVPI's with lightbars that have colored lenses (like the whelen lightbars) as well as no traffic advisor bars that offer some variety. Good luck in your model creation work.

Yes, no more TAs please.  As stated above, every car has one already.  

 

I turn mine off with my cars when possible, just don't like them and no departments in my area use them.

 

Good luck!

 

DrDetroit

Thanks for suggestions so far guys. What I did was add 2 yellow lights on the rear side of the lightbar and 1 led on the middle brake light. Does the yellow led on the middle brake light seem stupid?

I'm a bit iffy on the idea of a flasher on the third brake light but you're the modder, you do what you feel is needed.

Quite honestly, if people aren't smart enough to move over for red/blue lights, they probably won't move over for an amber advisory either.

 

What most departments in my area are currently doing is having a traffic advisor pattern with red and blue lights on either the lightbar or the interior lights.

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Edited June 23, 20241 yr by tobeymaguire

I like FHP's way of using the TA. It just constantly flashes and it lights up the vehicle even more. I really love the FHP even more after they got rid of just the halogen blue & white lights and switched over to a more modern and much more visible look of their cruisers. It's just so much more effecient than before, however as always a lot of people are ignorant and are probably not giving a f*ck (Pardon my French) about the flashing lights ahead.

 

Fashing lights ahead? Slow down or move over, it's not that hard.

 

You can see the lightning set-up from 1:15