Taiwan’s ambulances sport new look designed for visibility, safety

Taoyuan City received its first new ambulance painted in a distinctively new style designed to enhance visibility and safety, today, December 28.

Taoyuan City Fire Department received the ambulance as a donation from the Taoyuan Charity Golf Association, noting that it was the first in the city to be painted with Battenburg markings. The distinctive pattern was designed in the UK in the 1990s, and have quickly spread to many countries who use the patterns to mark emergency vehicles.

The Battenburg markings are designed to make vehicles more conspicuous, and recognizable at a distance of up to 500 meters under natural sunlight, road lights, or vehicle headlights.

The Taoyuan City Fire Department said that all new ambulances will be painted with Battenburg markings. As the cost of repainting existing vehicles would be as high as NT$80,000 each, it was decided that the patterns will be applied only to new ambulances as the existing fleet of 132 ambulances is gradually replaced.

The Taipei City Fire Department started using the patterns on new ambulances in March 2020. At that time, it was noted that the distinctive alternating red and yellow pattern was being used in accordance with provisions of the National Fire Protection Association and the Reflective Markings Format for Fire Fighting Vehicles of the National Fire Agency of the Ministry of the Interior.

Therefore, it is expected that all new ambulances and fire fighting vehicles in Taiwan will eventually sport the new look.

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