Chevrons on the rear of apparatus, your thoughts?

The 2009 version of NFPA 1901is going to mandate chevrons on the rear of apparatus, like they do in Europe. I think it's a great idea who's time has finally come. I'm sure many FF's and civilian's lives will be saved by this. We need to be visible out there. Some F.D's have been doing this for a while, (see the JPG below). What do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on August 23, 2008 at 4:28pm

I saw our new Engine on the road the other day while off-duty, and I gotta say those chevrons really made you notice the back of the rig! I could see it from farther away.

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Permalink Reply by T.J. on August 24, 2008 at 1:53am

I think the chevrons are awesome and we're installing them on all of our older trucks:)

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Betz on August 24, 2008 at 5:16pm

They are completely ugly...However, if they improve the safety of the scene folks they are worth it. Did I happen to mention they look like crap?

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Permalink Reply by Justin Buck on August 24, 2008 at 5:26pm

its a great idea

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Permalink Reply by Justin Buck on August 24, 2008 at 11:37pm

i like the idea but would that draw more attention to the trucks and the crew thats working around it

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Permalink Reply by Mike Miller on August 25, 2008 at 12:11am

I think it is a good idea and it makes the truck look neater.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on August 25, 2008 at 2:56pm

You would think that it would, but studies show that they actually increase safety.

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Permalink Reply by Ed on August 25, 2008 at 3:16pm

Fantastic idea!

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Permalink Reply by Greenman on August 27, 2008 at 1:34am

I don't like the idea of departments short-cutting the requirements by trying these "dots." It's not safe and as more and more apparatus have chevrons, drivers will be looking for chevrons and will miss "dots" because their "driver's eyes" aren't trained to look for dots.

Your department and your municipality need to just pony up and meet the standard. If they half-a$$ this standard, what other standards do they go half-way on? I understand about the diamond-plate issue, and the chevrons may needs more than regular old "peel and stick" decals, the chevrons may need to be professionally applied.

Just my 2 cents.

GM

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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on August 27, 2008 at 1:15pm

Good point, GM. They should either do it right, or not at all!

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Permalink Reply by WHM61 on August 27, 2008 at 1:31pm

I have yet to see one personally with the chevrons at night around here locally, they do look and work great in daylight. But there are alot of differing opinions out there on the chevrons, the safety vests (Another standard to meet as of Nov. 2008), multi-colored flashing halogen, strobe or LED lights all together make for a very unsafe, as opposed to a safe operating area for emergency service workers. So with that all said I am not 100% sold on any of the ideas, except for just "SHUTTING DOWN THE ROAD" to prevent people from getting hurt or hit.

As for the "DOTS" opinions, here is my two cents, they are NFPA compliant if they are arranged in the chevron pattern, so they are a proper alternative to the full sheet decal attempts on diamond plating.