Why I won't put lights on my heavy wrecker

It’s very simple. Blinding the people who are driving cars towards you is just flat out dumb. Bright and fast flashing lights are very disorienting and distract people from the danger that they should be focusing on. The towing industry has gone WAY into the stupid category with the amount of lights and crazy flash patterns that have become the norm these days.

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[Jagabot_Esq.]

Casey, the SK government did a 12 month study in the late 1980s in Saskatchewan (Canada) when it comes to light bars and warning lights in regards to approaching traffic. Trucks operating a crash in the ditch that had their strobes/lightbar on had a 4000% (yes 40 times) more likelihood of having an approaching car drift into the ditch (or the shoulder) where the recovery truck was working (people inadvertently lean towards the lights and drift the steering wheel in that direction "to see what's going on over there"). Road flares (burning or reflective) set up 200m before the crash scene did far, far, more to prevent secondary accidents than any amount of blinking lights. This resulted in some general retraining of tow trucks and first responders on highways attending accidents. I couldn't find a link to the study (it was the Department of Highways and the University of Saskatchewan) to share, probably because it predates the internet.

The reduction of distracting lighting lasted about 10 years... and then every new bright eyed 'I know more than you' that came along argued that everyone needed more lights and today every arsehole has 250 bright flashing LED bars etc. on their units.

Simultaneous to this study for reducing flashing lights on highway night-time recoveries was a debate on blue lights for police cars. The RCMP was a very vehement and vocal supporter of police-only for any blue lights (they went so far as to make them illegal for ground-effect lighting on private cars/bikes as well). They removed all the blue lights from snow plows and salt/gravel trucks (the standard warning light for them for 50+ years in Canada, even though blue warning lights are far more visible in snowy conditions than amber alone) and changed the law to only allow them on police vehicles. Three years ago, there was a follow up study and now blue lights are back on snow plows and gravel/salt trucks (along with amber) as well as on fire trucks (red, white, and blue) and ambulances (red, white, and blue) while police are all blue and red (more blue than red lights). Putting the blue lights back on has reduced winter accidents for highway snow removal vehicles, and it has improved first responder traffic clearance as well as reduced secondary accidents at a scene (for blue being the 3rd most predominant visible light on ambulances and fire trucks).

Basically, there are always going to be "the new guys" that know more than "the old guys" and things change for the sake of change alone more often than for the sake of safety. Fewer lights flashing on a roadside or in a ditch means fewer secondary accidents because they don't distract other drivers. *Period.* Maybe it is different in a well lit urban environment, but on a dark highway or road they are a hazard to anyone working the scene and there is plenty of data to back that up.

[Terry]

As a volunteer firefighter I can't tell you how many times I've heard cops and firefighters complain about almost getting hit. In the same breath they'll talk about how many super bright lights they have and those stupid drivers are still trying to kill them!

Slowly I'm seeing some change. The newest trooper's vehicles automatically change the light pattern to a slow fade in and out pattern. Some are getting park kill on the flashing white to kill the wig-wag headlights when parked.

I'm glad you realize a bunch of dazzling lights are not the answer. Keep spreading the word!

[reelshawnbradly]

I LOVE your lighting ideas! As a professional driver I HATE the idiots with all the flashing strobes and blinding lights aimed randomly into the eyes of drivers and traffic at night effectively blinding drivers when they actually need their vision the MOST!

[munsters]

Glad to see you are thoughtful and considerate in not wanting to blind approaching traffic. I agree that it is dangerous having way too many, too bright and strobing lights. You want motorists to be able to see you and your truck; NOT blinding them so they can't see you.

[andrewostrelczuk]

Absolutely love this Logic, Casey!!! Lightning at night is so much better the way you describe it!!!
I have been a good Driver since I was 16, and over 50 now, driving about 80% of Army Vehicles in Inventory from 1987 -2007 (my full belief is that if you have to wrench on, then you better be able to operate it) and as a construction equipment Mechanic I’ve operated some stuff that never gets used in Civilian life. That being said Experience and Stick time (Not on video games for me) is a very valuable skill that even though the number of simulators that are out there are constantly improving, but it’s not the same thing as being in the seat of a bulldozer for example, pushing blast rock down to a loading pile and backing up to the top and going over the Edge…
That jolt of sudden drop from the sky is a doozy and the feeling that you have lost control as the dozer pivots on its tracks from say a 45° angle of nose down into a flat surface will blow your mind and your body goes through quite a shock when the dozer basically falls down in an arc 16-18 feet. All that steel loves Gravity! And if you are not wearing a seatbelt you can get tossed around the entire cab area. Including being tossed out of it normally, after hitting several hard surfaces before you get to greet the ground. And if you have it throttled up and your foot is not on the decelerater pedal it will take off and you are far from being in control of the Dozer that just left you. If you’re withering in pain on the ground with a dislocated shoulder, broken collar bone, that Dozer doesn’t care what it’s going to hit next… Safety first and Always!

[popslogan]

My UHaul company stock appreciates your honesty. This fuel theft crap is so out of control it’s disgusting

[donaldpowell]

You make a lot good sense. 21 years in field service early morning, late evening, bright lights in your eyes bad. I like your videos.

[WhatTheIfYouSeeKay]

I appreciate your explanation about the lights. Its not just being blinded0r distracted by bright lights. What no one really realizes is when you have flashing, bright, strobing or whatever warning devices… it causes drivers to look at them. And that causes the driver to vier in the direction they are looking. ESPECIALLY impaired drivers. Its why there are so many fatalities on the highways, construction zones, wrecks, etc.. the more lights you have the more dangerous it is. I was a Paramedic for 30 years, and now I am a Safety Officer. I have seen my share of what you are trying to prevent. GREAT JOB!

[glcglc]

Thank you Casey/ for voice of reason. The LED flasher on most emergency response vehicles are disorientingly bright.

[garypurdy]

The lady at the UPS store asking what kind of delivers you are getting is hilarious!!! 🤣

[MattCJohnson]

Kudos to you, Casey. The levels of common sense you display in everything that you do is why I'm subscribed. I'm a former Firefighter and Rescue Tech and I agree, all the emergency lights these days are WAY too bright. Alerting traffic to your presence is one thing, blinding and disorienting them as they try to navigate safely past you is asinine. I have said this to myself for years passing emergency vehicles at night, and I was thrilled to see a consummate professional such as yourself saying the same thing. Hopefully, every emergency service in the country sees this video and figures it out.

[ocean_hummer]

Impressive organization on the wrecker, which is super sharp looking! Totally agree about the blinding lights. Stay safe!

[Eric-gikg]

No worries, Casey
Just seeing that big beautiful truck working and your excitement on your 'new' toy.
All is Good

[jamesbigham]

Casey I love how you always think about safety and how you don't want to blind drivers and avoid accidents. I wish more people would do things like that.

[bryanjump]

Thank you, and very smart move. Lots of people suffer from night blindness, so big bright lights in their face doesn't do anything but make it where they can't see anything at all in front of them. Lighting up the scene instead actually makes it way easier for someone with night blindness to navigate it safely for both the people on scene and themselves. Even if you don't have night blindness, you know you rage when someone high beams you. This just makes sense.

[AndyFromm]

👍
I hate coming up on insane bright warning/light on the road, can't see anything. I always crawl by them cause I'm afraid I'm gonna hit a person because I'm blinded.

[tomwilliams]

Those magnet lights are exactly the ones I was suggesting last episode. 👍👍

[bonebones]

I almost ran into a police officer at 5 MPH. He was standing in the road directing traffic but had the strobes out in front of him blinding on coming traffic.
Thank you for being considerate of our vision.

[albertlarson]

I appreciate how you are setting up your peripheral lighting.

[markrabbia]

I love, and 1000 percent agree with Casey's view on the lights