Driving You Crazy: What is the law regulating the use of red and blue emergency lights in construction zones?

DENVER — Jordan from Arvada writes, “What's driving you crazy? More and more often in construction zones, I am seeing white Ford SUVs and cars with red and blue flashing lights; they very much look like police cars just without the markings. Today, I saw one of these cars with Montana plates. I assume they want the appearance of police presence to ensure safety around construction workers, but it feels to me that this is a misrepresentation of authority. Do these cars (and the people in them) have any law enforcement responsibility? What are the laws regulating the use of red and blue emergency lights? In my opinion, the use of these cars diminishes the importance and authority of actual police lighting.”

I have seen these cars too Jordan, but mainly off the interstates. Along highway construction projects, I will usually see an official Colorado State Patrol or other official local law enforcement vehicle parked in the coned off construction zone with lights on. It is mostly off the highways that I’ve seen the unmarked, white sedans with the red and blue light bars.

Red and blue overhead lights are specifically designed and used to increase visibility for emergency vehicles like police cars, ambulances and fire trucks. Colorado law expressly prohibits non-emergency personnel vehicles from using red or blue overhead lights. Colorado Revised Statute 42-4-238 states, “A person shall not be in actual physical control of a vehicle, except an authorized emergency vehicle as defined in section 42-1-102 (6), that the person knows contains a lamp or device that is designed to display, or that is capable of displaying if affixed or attached to the vehicle, a red or blue light visible directly in front of the center of the vehicle.”

MORE: Read more traffic issues driving people crazy

An authorized emergency vehicle is defined as, “such vehicles of the fire department, police vehicles, ambulances, and other special-purpose vehicles as are publicly owned and operated by or for a governmental agency to protect and preserve life and property in accordance with state laws regulating emergency vehicles; said term also means the following if equipped and operated as emergency vehicles in the manner prescribed by state law.”

Sgt. Ivan Alvarado with the Colorado State Patrol tells me Colorado law is pretty clear about this.

“It is illegal for vehicles that are not law enforcement to have red and blue lights," he said. "Construction and traffic control organizations are allowed to have blue and amber. These sometimes get mistaken for emergency vehicles.”

I then asked the Denver Police Department if these unmarked construction vehicles that are on city streets are a misrepresentation of a real emergency vehicle but they refused to answer the question.

I contacted Elite Surface Infrastructure after I saw a white sedan with red and blue lights that had Montana license plates in their infrastructure work zone in Castle Pines. They told me that sedan was provided to them by Denver Metro Security, Inc (DMS), a security company they contract with to provide safety at construction zones. I called DMS and talked to Nate Boyd who told me they are allowed to use vehicles with red and blue lights because there is a POST officer in that car.

“We're off duty police officers," he said. "We're not doing ambers, OK.”

POST stands for Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training. POST is the certification process required for an individual to serve as a peace officer in Colorado.

“We have a list of 600 officers that go through the POST certification," Boyd said. "They go through the academy, they take the POST test, then they get sworn in. So, they can be off-duty, they can be retired, they can be full-time, part-time, or reserve — as long as they're sworn in."

There are significant safety reasons for using these lighted vehicles in construction zones. In 2019, the Oregon Department of Transportation published a study that stated law enforcement vehicles located within a work zone with active flashing blue lights (not with red) result in reduced vehicle speeds and that placement of flashing blue lights on construction equipment has been identified as a potential control measure to further reduce speeds.

“I've never had a death on any of our jobs and we've never had a major incident as long as I've been here,” Boyd said.

As for the car with the Montana license plate, Boyd tells me it is less expensive for the Denver Metro Security company to rent cars from a company from Montana than it is to rent cars from other states, including Colorado.

“But we have to make those lights CDOT-specified," he said. "They give us a list of what their cars need to have, and it's very close to what the CSP has. Our lights have to match the safety specifications.”

By the way, red and blue flashing lights are also restricted to authorized police and emergency vehicles in Montana as they are in Colorado.

I received another similar question from a viewer named Mark who saw red and blue lights on a Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure vehicle. I also have seen these vehicles and I asked the city about that. I was told the city believes their vehicles are considered emergency response vehicles “due to the roadway work performed during the day and overnight. This brings more visual awareness to drivers to slow down and take caution while we are conducting work in the aerial equipment.”

The city didn’t indicate if their workers who operate the trucks with the red and blue lights are POST-certified or not.

Denver7 Traffic Expert Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is over 25 years.) He's obsessed with letting viewers know what's happening on their drive and the best way to avoid the problems that spring up. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or listen to his award winning Driving You Crazy podcast on any podcast app including iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Podbean, or YouTube.