Msp

[john2190]

Can any of you MSP guys give me some history of the red rotator. I think it's a cool tradition.

Thanks!

[darrell]

http://www.geocities.com/my9c1page/msphistory this is michiganstud's web page. He has some of the history on there. I will dig up what I can in my MSP History book and flyers on the bubble.

[john2190]

Thanks for the link, it is a great site.

[christrue]

'Web site has exceeded its allocated data' is most/all of
the messsage I received after I clicked the link.

[darrell]

I give all credit to Michiganstud for this information as it came from his site.

The Bubble Issue
This is the major point of controversy for the MSP car. The "bubble", or overhead light, is a single red rotating light that sits on top of the patrol car's roof. The controversy is based on the number of flashes and visibillity to motorists. A full light bar, a Federal Signal Brand StreetHawk or the Vision, for example, is multi-colored and can emit up to hundreds of FPM's (Flashes per minute). The beleif is that multi coloration and many FPM's will alert motorists better than the bubble. Intersections are a particular point of referance. When an emergency vehicle passes through an intersection "CODE" (lights and siren) there is a 45 degree angle that needs to be swept so that oncomming motorists will see the vehicle. The argument is that the bubble is inefficient in this.