Last Saturday evening, Rachel and her husband, Mark, were driving home from visiting friends when something unusual appeared in the rearview mirror.
A dark SUV was approaching quickly.
At first, Rachel thought the lights across the front were blue. But as the vehicle got closer, she realized they were bright green.
“Have you ever seen that before?” she asked.
Mark leaned forward and stared into the mirror.
“No, but slow down. Let them get around us.”
Rachel moved toward the right side of the road while the SUV passed. There was no siren, and the driver didn’t honk or make any aggressive move.
Still, the green lights kept flashing.
The strange encounter bothered Rachel enough that she looked it up when they got home.
That was when she discovered why the answer can be confusing.
Green warning lights do not have one universal meaning across the United States. Depending on the state or community, they may be used by volunteer firefighters, emergency medical responders, security vehicles, command vehicles, or other authorized personnel.
In some places, those lights are simply asking drivers for courtesy and space rather than legally ordering them to pull over.
Rachel laughed when she told Mark.
“So you didn’t actually know what they meant?”
He smiled.
“No. I just figured anyone flashing unusual lights probably had somewhere more important to be than we did.”
Since then, Rachel says she pays much closer attention whenever an unfamiliar emergency light appears behind her.
