Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1971 )

Hon. W. Murrav Jordan Opinion No. M-1017 District Attoiney 107 East Main Re : Must private vehicles Brady, Texas 76825 used by volunteer fire- men in respondi~ng .t:o fi,re alarms be equipped with the audible and visual si.gnals required by Section 124, Article 6701d, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, in order to quali.fy such vehicle as an “authorized emergency vehicle” and related Dear Mr. Jordan: q,uestions. You have asked our opinion as to the appli,cability of Section 124, Article 6701d, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, requi~ring audio and visual warning devices for emergency vehicles, to volun- teer firemen answering fire alarms in their personal motor vehi.- cles. You ask our views as follows: I! o . .The problem is, must every volunteer fireman equip his pri.vate auto with such audibl,e and visual signals ir order to be classi.fied as an authorized emergency vehi- cle. 41.~0 may a volunteer r’i!=;Inan have such ligh- s (unlighted) on his vehicle at times other than when answering fire alarms. “Addit i,onally, may the two alternately flash- ing red lights be located inside the vehicle in such a lr,zation as they may be seen through both the front windshi.eld and the rear window.” Sect,i,on 124 of Art:icle 670ld was amended by the 62nd Legi.slsture and now reads in pertinent part. as foll.ows: “Sec. 1,211. (a). Every authorized emergency vehicle shal,l, i.n addi ti.on t,o an” other equipment and distinctive markings requi,red -4962- . - Hon. V. Murray Jordan, page 2. (M-1017) by this Act, be equipped with a siren, exhaust whistle or bell capable of giving an audible signa 1. “(b) Every school, bus and every authorized emergency vehicle shall, in addition to any other equipment and distinctive markings re- quired by this Act, be equipped with signal lamps mounted as high and as widely spaced laterally as practicable, which shall be capa- ble of displaying to the front two (2) alter- nately flashing red lights located at the same level and to the rear two (2) alternately flash- ing red lights located at the’same level, and these lights shall have sufficient intensity to be visible at five hundred (500) feet in normal sunlight. (1 . . . “(d) The alternately flashing lighting described in Subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall not be used on any vehicle other than a school bt?s or an authorized emergency vehicle.” Section 2(d) of Article 6701d, defines an “authorized emergency vehi,cle” to include: ?‘Vehicle~s of the fire department (fire patrol) and private vehicles operated by volunteer hiiemen while answering a fire alarm.’ It therefore seems clear that the private vehic1.e of a volunteer fireman, answering a fire alarm may qualif:; as an “author- ized emergency vehicle”, but only if the vehicle is equipped as provided in Section 124 of Article 6701d. It additionally follows that the private vehicle of a volunteer fireman that will be used for answering fire alarms may have the lighting and audio signals required by Section 124 on his vehicle at all. times so as to be in a position to make use of such when responding to fire alarms. With respect to locating the prescribed lj.Phts inside the vehicle so as to be visible front and rear as required by Section 124, a question of fact arises as to whether, such an in- stallati.on meets the injunction of Section 1,24 to mou,nt the signal -4963- Hon. V. Murray Jordan, page 3. (M-1017) lamps 'as high and as widely spaced laterally as practicable". In many cases where there is ample rear windshield lateral visibility, such an installation would probably meet the stan- dards of the statute. SUMMARY A private vehicle used by volunteer fire- men to respond to fire alarms must be equipped with the audible and visual signals required by Section 124, Article 6701d, Vernon's Civil Sta- tutes, in order to qualify such vehicle as an "authorized emergency vehicle" as defined by Section I(d), Article 6701d, Vernon's Civil Sta- tutes. Such private vehicles may have such sig- nals installed when not in use to answer fire alarms. The placement nf such visual signals so as to satisfy the pc,sition requirements of Section 124 is a matter of fact depending on the vehicle involved. Prepared by Lonny F, Zwiener Assistant Attorney General APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Kerns Taylor, Chairman W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman Bart Boling Max Hamilton Lewis Jones William Craig SAM MCDANIEL Staff Legal Assistant ALFRED WALKER Executive Assistant NOLA WHITE First Assistant -4964-