The report, Emergency Vehicle Visibility and Conspicuity Study, presents key findings, opportunities and challenges to making emergency vehicles more visible as appropriate.
Some of the strategies for making vehicles, such as ambulances, more visible to other drivers on the road include using fluorescent colors, high-contrast color schemes, contour markings and retroreflective materials that shine light, as from a car's headlights back toward the driver and . For applications where stealth is important, such as police cars, such patterns could be put on the back of the car, the report said.
One of the major findings of the report is the "urgent need" for additional research into the best way to increase the visibility of emergency vehicles on the roads. Current U.S. standards require fire equipment and ambulances be outfitted with retroreflective striping
And some have questioned the need to make emergency vehicles more visible. The report notes the point of view that emergency vehicles, parked off the roadway at an incident, should not attract attention of passing motorists who may hit these vehicles. In addition, overdoing the elements that make an emergency vehicle more visible to drivers could pose more of a hazard by becoming a distraction if overdone.
