Emergency lights & sirens on ambulances. Can these lights be used in non-emergency situations? 27-36-304 Yes? 27-37-202 This is an unofficial opinion.

ye STATE OF ARKANSAS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ema _ 201 EAST MARKHAM STREET | STEVE CLARK HERITAGE WEST BUILDING -. . ATTORNEY GENERAL __ LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72201 (501) 371-2007 Opinion No: 86-67 Septwmber 15, 1987 Ms. Betty B. Gay Director, Main Line Emergency Volunteer Ambulance Service Box 252. Portland, AR 71663 Dear Ms. Gay: You have requested information concerning the running of lights on ambulance transfers of non-emergency patients. I would refer you to the following Arkansas Statutes, the relevant portions of which are reproduced for your convenience. Ark. Stat. Ann. §75-736, states: Fire department vehicles and ambulances equipped with red flashing or rotating lights. - All state, county, city and municipal or privately-owned fire departments, funeral homes, or ambulance companies, shall install, maintain, and exhibit red rotating or flashing emergency lights upon all fire department vehicles, automobiles used by firemen and ambulances, which are equipped with emergency lighting, and operated within the State of Arkansas. Ark. Stat. Ann. §75-725 in pertinent part, states: (b) Every authorized emergency vehicle shall be equipped with a siren, whistle, or bell, capable of ommitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than five hundred 5. 8 Ms. Betty B. Gay Opinion No. 86~67 September 15, 1987° Page 2 , feet and of a type approved by the department, . but such warning device shall not be used except when such vehicle is operated in. response to an | emergency call or in the immediate pursuit of an actual ~ or suspected violater of the law, in which said latter event the driver of such- vehicle shall sound said warning device when necessary to warn pedestrians and other . drivers of the approach thereof. (c) Every authorized emergency vehicle shall, in addition to any. other equipment and distinctive markings required by this Act, be: equipped with Signal lamps mounted as high and as widely spaced latterally as praticable, which shail be capable. of displaying to the front two [2] alternately flashing red lights located at the same level and to the rear two [2] alternately flashing red lights located at the same level, and these lights shall have sufficient intensity | to be visible at five hundred feet in normal sunlight. Under the above statues, any use of rotating or flashing emergency lights is not expressly prohibited by State law. The Attorney General is authorized to render formal opinions to officers and departments of the State Government only. Necessarily, therefore, the foregoing is not to be considered a formal opinion of the Attorney General, but is an informal and unofficial expression of view given with the desire to be helpful to you. / Sincerely, STEVE CLARK Attorney General BY: SC/KJID/1jm