New Red Lights for Japan's Police Cars

Sep 26, 2024 | News On Japan

TOKYO - Japan's National Police Agency is introducing new patrol cars equipped with red lights designed to assist people with hearing impairments, flashing differently depending on whether the vehicle is on an emergency run or a routine patrol.

The red light emits a gentle glow, similar to a firefly's, indicating that the patrol car is not in an emergency mode but in a 'patrol run.'

This new feature is intended to help those with hearing impairments distinguish whether a patrol car is in an emergency run or merely patrolling.

Hearing-impaired individuals have voiced concerns about mistakenly giving way to patrol cars, confusing routine patrols for emergency runs due to the inability to hear the siren, which often causes inconvenience to other drivers. In response, the Japanese Federation of the Deaf requested the introduction of a red light system that can be identified visually.

The National Police Agency plans to deploy 520 small patrol cars equipped with these new red lights nationwide within this fiscal year. Additionally, they aim to gradually introduce this system to more than 10,000 police vehicles currently in operation.

Source: ANN

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