Emergency? Nah, These Lights Are For Cruising
You may have seen Hillsborough County patrol cars cruising all parts of Southshore with their “cruise lights” on. What started as a trial has now become permanent—Hillsborough is one of the first agencies in Florida to fully implement cruise lights on law enforcement vehicles.
The idea behind the glowing blue light is visibility. Officials say it helps deter crime by letting people know police are in the area. But let’s be honest—when a massive, fully marked Tahoe rolls through your neighborhood with “Sheriff” plastered across every panel, you already know the cops are nearby. The lights aren’t exactly subtle, and unless someone’s committing a crime in broad daylight with their eyes closed, it’s hard to imagine this extra glow making a difference.
The bigger issue? Confusion. Many residents think they’re being pulled over when they see the lights, especially at night. Others just don’t know what the constant illumination means. Is it an emergency? A warning? Or just mood lighting?
Officials claim it’s working, citing vague reductions in crime. But correlation isn’t causation—and let’s not forget we’re also in a time of increased surveillance, more cameras, and an ever-growing police presence. Cruise lights might be part of the solution, or they might just be the latest in a long list of flashy-but-pointless measures.
Either way, they’ve added a bit of disco to your daily drive.
You have got to be kidding. Cruise lights are a driving distraction and so dangeous, I should not even have to write about it. This is stupidity beyond belief. Drivers are conditioned to “Pull to the right for red lights.” We see red or red, blue and amber, we pull over and let the police, sheriff, fire and ambulance pass safely. The cops are not only playing with their lights 24-7, they are playing with lives. One young couple have already found out how dangersous these always-on emergency vehicle lights can be when a HSO deputy hit them causing serious injuries because the motorcyclist thoght the officer was rolling Code-3 to an emergency and attempted to give him the right-of-way.
These lights not only present a danger to the public, the decision to use them was one-sided and at best ill advised Sheriff Chad needs to be either recalled by the public or voted out of office for engangering the public. I kive in a stste where ANY emergency vehicle displaying lit emergency lights must pull to the right, stop and give right-of-way to the emergency vehicle, even if the siren is not activated.
So, the next question is: If an emergency vehicle comes toward you, comes from behind or crosses your vehicle path, in Hillsboro County must stop or be in violation of state law? In many states a single, steady red light is sufficient to force the motorist to pull over. The practice of using cruising lights has already caused serious injuries that did not need to happen, this MUST never occur again.