Fun Fact: first day of filming on the original Ghostbusters, they didn't have their filming permits yet. Murray and Aykroyd piled into the Ecto-1 and drove it around New York with a camera crew following as they filmed all those shots of the car, in pretty much the same way you guys did. And the shots of them running down the sidewalk with their packs on was done the same day, in the same way. No permits. Just hop out, and run down the sidewalk before anyone can catch them.
Honestly, driving around in an Ecto-1 and running down the streets in jumpsuits and proton packs sounds funnier in a place where nobody knows about Ghostbusters People would be so dumbfounded by the sight of that
It's an obvious that this car is a show car and only a rookie would give you grief. And I can you tell you from a GA cops prospective. Enjoy the car, did a great job.
I've got a good friend who's a former cop, and he's basically said the same thing. Same thing with teachers. Some people teach because they want to be the boss.
@@unfinishedstudios it's legal to have the lights on the car. as long as you don't turn on the lights while driving on the road. but of your at a car show or in a parade you can put them on
@@superfanb5742 why do cops have a actual problem with everything yet we lie to ourselves that is "the land of the free" without the actual freedom with the true fact you get in trouble with everything from this "justice law" ⚖ just obedience to our lands law and be fine. Don't? Or else get sue or whatever they have a problem with.
@@unfinishedstudios did he really mean like NEVER? To ever see you 👻🚫 or really bad day? Irony of calling USA "land of the free " when 1 cop as a problem with hunting evil 👻 the way cops go after killers and crime. 🤨
I understand you man. To settle that loneliness I say either try to make a fan group or (better option) if your state has a fan group(s), then join them. I saw Afterlife with The Gateway City Ghostbusters and after showing them my enthusiasm and some of my props, they offered me to join their group.
just let ppl know on fb and such your passions im sure someone will join you on the journey, i recently been asked to join a fan group or to make one.. and who knows i may :) -Dan
In the context of the movie they're probably illegal too. After all, each of them is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on their back and there are even rumours of the presence of noxious, possibly hazardous waste chemicals in their basement. ;P
Yea, in the early days of their business, they really weren't all that bothered with legalities, were they? That's why Walter Peck wasn't a villain, just an antagonist. If the story were from his POV, he'd have been the hero of the story as he doggedly pursued the law breaking renegades.
@@Dargonhuman Except Peck was fom the EPA and I feel like the irony is that he insisted on seeing their containment unit because he thought they were frauds. If they were actually frauds then there wouldn't be any reason for HIM to care about their containment unit. But the fact that they're not frauds actually validates his concerns, but since he was disingenuous he didn't actually take the precautions that his concerns would have warranted thus causing the containment failure that he was allegedly trying to prevent. So he's a villain who's accidentally justified
@@BluCappy419 Counterpoint: The Ghostbusters weren't frauds but they were operating their highly dangerous equipment illegally so Peck was perfectly justified in his actions as an agent of the EPA. Had they gone through the proper channels, done the paperwork, hired people to do the proper assessments and gotten their permits, Peck would have simply sent an inspector down every few months to ensure they were following protocols instead of having to open a full investigation into their operations.
Here in the UK, you can have emergency lighting but as you said, not running whilst driving on a public highway - unless previously arranged. You can buy orange canvas covers with "not an emergency vehicle" on them that covers you for long haul journeys. The officer I spoke to said even he worries that people will see something like the Ectomobile, with all the ridiculous apparatus, and STILL think it was a legit emergency vehicle, but its all about seeing the lights from a distance. You usually get a lot more lee-way if they're powered down and maybe disconnected from the unit whilst going long distance.
Yes , pull the fuse if in doubt and you will be OK . We had a zealot who saw a preserved fire engine ( 1950's Dennis F12 with wheeled escape ladder ) parked up at a service area and moaned about the blue lights - had his gas put at a peep when we pointed out it actually belonged to , and maintained by , the fire brigade , we were all employees and most of us were still qualified emergency responders licensed to drive operational vehicles anyway . I think the cop took great pleasure in telling him that .
in case any UK folks want to know - you can have blue flashing lights on your vehicle here BUT they must be covered up (eg bagged or wrapped in sacking or similar) while on the public highway. You are then free to uncover them and use them on private property. For this reason, you will also sometimes see actual real police vehicles which are temporarily out of service, being driven by non police officers, but support staff, eg on the way to servicing, or moving vehicles where they need to use the public highway, and because it's not in service and not driven by a police officer, they will sometimes bag the lights to prevent accidental illumination.
As long as you are not trying to impersonate an emergency or law enforcement vehicle, I think the cops let this slide because it is a show car replica from an iconic movie. If you put flashing lights or a siren on a Jeep then you'd likely get ticketed.
Great video and our family loves the Ghostbusters. My 75-year-old father never had a ticket of any kind ever. One day he did a half-ass stop at a side street stop sign. A cop was hiding in the nearby field. He pulled my father over, for a California stop. Once he found out dad never had a ticket, the Cops face lit up with color. He was absolutely ecstatic he was able to give dad a ticket. He even checked everything he could. He gave dad a failure to stop ticket and a non-functioning horn ticket. He was literally skipping with joy back to his car. An people wounded why the public don't like cops. 🤔🤯🤓
It only takes ONE officer to ruin your entire vibe. I drive a 1976 Ford Gran Torino (Yes, THAT one) for the last 15 years and got nothing but love from everyone who saw the car. I am a completist; I had a red bubble light for pictures. Always kept in on the transmission hump between the bucket seats. Local LEO's said I could run it as long as I wasn't doing traffic stops. But there was ONE state trooper who killed my vibe. There must've been a car show in town earlier that day cos he saw that White stripe and came right after me. It took him a good 7 minutes to approach the car passenger's side. Asked for my license. "What's the light for?" I asked him if he knew of the TV show; he didn't, went back to his cruiser. Another 20 minutes, he comes back to the car and hands me a ticket about my seatbelt not being worn properly. The actual written part of the summons was 2 paragraphs long, and was about as convoluted as anything I'd seen. I went to the local PD (who knew me and the car) so I could make a copy; one of the officers read it and shook his head. As in only a state officer would make up something like that. And he remains the sole buzz kill I ever had.🙃
The pd would have been sued and publicly humiliated for claiming ignorance on an obvious movie replica that's also identified as non emergency vechile, any ecto owners are smart enough to have cameras installed and posted intent
In Pennsylvania, blue lights are for firefighters personal vehicles. Red and Blue are police and Red only are fire apparatus, fire chiefs, EMA and ambulances.
I’m pretty sure that blue lights are courtesy lights. Up here in upstate NY, blue only is volunteer firefighters/EMS. You’re not required to get out of the way, but you’re a Walter Peck if you don’t
@@leighbellouny3904 correct, people are only required to move aside for red lights or red and blue lights. Blue only is a courtesy and blue lighters must follow all the rules of the road. Many fire companies have banned them and if you live in an area with lights of stop lights, it’s kind of pointless to have them. You look stupid sitting at a red light with your blue lights flashing…lol!
each state has its thing. blue here in Indiana is VFD, red/blue PD and red fd/ems but Ohio and much of the south blue is PD along with some areas red/blue. red for fd/vfd/ems.
@@DutchFunkenstein Yellow basically means caution, basically nothing to a US driver, granting no authority to the vehicle bearing it, adding ONLY, as you note, visibility. Green occasionally has legal definition, and is also used to enhance visibility, especially now in the LED age where green holds it color better and doesn't bleach itself out quickly.
It really depends on what municipality you're driving through and how strict the police are. In my group (steel city ghostbusters) we've had many ecto's come and go over the years and our encounters with law enforcement have always been a positive experience. When I had my own ecto that was converted from a ford taurus station wagon, I've been pulled over 3 times by 3 different departments. But It was never cause my lights, it was cause they wanted to take a picture with it lol. But they all said to be responsible with the lights and not run them on the road. So, with people who wanna build an ecto; don't be a jerk, be responsible, and don't run your lights on public streets. If you're cool with the cops, they'll be cool with you.
you can own the lights even on replica police cars. the issue they can bring up is you having those lights causing confusion as people thinking you are law enforcement or rescue,. a ghost busters car clearly will not cause that. even if they still tried to make a case you got a strong historical/story argument. the laws where made to prevent fake police and rescue. a line you clearly do not cross.
Thank you for this video. TH-cam recommended, so I just found your channel. For me, who grew up on Ghostbusters, it's always a great joy to see this car.
@@unfinishedstudios I wish I could afford doing some thing like this.....then at every Halloween, drive down to our tourist mecca boulevard, Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki......guarantee it would be a "chick magnet"..............
Generally it's not illegal. (it might be technically). It's more about using them. I had a Knight Rider scanner light in the grill of an old chevy flat nose van. ran them on the road and got stopped because they were red and flashing.... Like someone would mistake my van for an emergency vehicle. So I only used them in parking lots after that. Funny enough, I did own a retired van ambulance. It did not have any signage saying it was an ambulance or EMS. It had no E lights, It did have spot lights and work light-headlights on the sides and it did have to red like school bus stop lights on the back that were wired for brakes. I was working carny at a fair one weekend, I had the van to sleep in. A real police officer thought I was a real medical ambulance and tried calling me on his radio
Sometimes they don't seem to think...I'm into Ham Radio so I have a few extra antennas on my car...I drive a fairly bland (function over form) white Subaru Outback with special use plates that say AMATEUR RADIO in large font opposite the state name and my callsign for the tag number Front and rear plates. Not once but TWICE I have been mistaken for an unmarked cop in a parkinglot by police in marked cruisers looking for their buddies.
Awesome video and awesome car! I am a 25 year law enforcement veteran and a major ghostbusters fan! Here in the State of Texas: it is not legal to use them to clear traffic while driving or using them to the capacity of pretending that your a peace office (impersonating a peace officer) but it is legal to own them or have them on you car.
actually NOT, ..if you have emergency lights in your possession reagardless if they are ON or NOT...it is still a felony... its called POSSESSION with INTENT to impersonate....
@@tommytomtomtLLLMMMFFFAAAOOO no justice in the entire world would CONSIDER this obvious vechile of non emergency use WHILE OFF on public roads to be confussed with LE or emergency use, id say take the fix it ticket and embarrass that city/county by requesting the judge to throw out this rediculus ticket, assumption this vechile could be "confussed" with any form of "emergency use" while off driving on public roads, all ectos need to have cams installed or any car for that matter to keep LE in check, have signs or stickers posted, without being disrespectful inform the cop this movie replica has video recording, don't argue just do as told, you get warned or cited, take it, file a complaint w that pd and hire an attorney and file harassment suit, it's 2023 no cop can claim ignorence of a movie lol then blast them on all media outlets for wasting your time
@@G.Harley.Davidson just google cop impersonators on YT......got choke guys in the mainland, some with police scanners, some are who I call "cop wannabe" are the security guards in some security businesses in town. this is what i heard in my town, that those that try pass the recruitment for police, and they get rejected, end up working in the "harbor patrol section, or sheriffs dept".
@@tommytomtomt In my town, this young gal's rape and murder, changed the policy of our local police because there was a possibility that her KILLER was a cop. Google Lisa Au murder......
Here in Quebec, a Ghostbusters fan had problems with his reproduction of a Ghostbusters police car. He covered the flashing lights with a black cloth that said "out of service" and police officers simply told him to use a black cloth without text. He finally installed black painted lenses when riding on the road.
I'm in Quebec too, and yeah... there's an authority called "Contrôle Routier" who're sort-of cops but specifically concerned with trucking, taxis, work trucks, etc. My employer mistakenly placed amber-and-white rooftop lights rather than pure amber on a couple of vehicles in our fleet, and one of their agents made it his mission to pull them over whenever he spotted them. Never for a ticket, just for stern warnings. 🤔
@@Dee_Just_Dee Je sais ce qu'ils sont. Un membre de ma famille était un contrôleur routier. Ils ne sont pas tous zélés. Ils sont conscients que leur travail consiste avant tout à prévenir les accidents. À propos des gyrophares, la couleur blanche est effectivement réservée aux véhicules d'urgence. Mais ça n'a pas toujours été le cas. À une époque, l'utilisation du blanc était une "zone grise". Le blanc n'est pas une couleur donc selon l'interprétation qu'on faisait du CSR, le blanc pouvait possiblement être utilisé pour tout véhicule autorisé à être muni de gyrophares. Ce point a été clarifié en 2018 pour les réserver aux véhicules d'urgence et aux véhicules d'entreprises funéraires. J'ai d'ailleurs connu un remorqueur dont le patron avait mis du blanc sur les côtés des gyrophares pour augmenter la visibilité.
@sg39g Merci pour l'historique! Toujours intéressant! Quoi que ça soit, j'ai informé mes supérieurs que nous serions 100% conformes à la loi juste en utilisant des gyrophares oranges, et ils ont donc effectué le changement pour quelques centaines de dollars... par acheter les pièces sur Amazon et laisser la tâche de remplacement à moi. 😅
if you use the car as a display in a car show, or promotional thing with the GB franchise, or even a parade, that is perfectly fine. However, if you take your family out on a dinner and you let them in the car to just cruise around, THEN its illegal to turn on the lights.
Interesting bit of trivia, in Missouri tow trucks are allowed to be fitted with blue lights and sirens. But can only turn them on when police dispatcher authorizes it.
Here In Concord, New Hampshire All Towing Vehicle's have Amber/Yellow Light's (NO SIREN'S ALLOWED), Fire Department Vehicle's are Red, White & Amber Light's, Police Department Vehicle's are All Blue with some White Light's and 2 Red LED's in the back brake light's & finally All Green Light's are Security Vehicle's.
@@skunklover5725 Indiana all blue is VFD. (someone told me there is a push to move PD to all blue to match Ohio/KY) PD red/blue and FD all red and some red/green
Yeah i know that because of Ron Pratt (Midwest Truck Sales & Service), He got ragged on for using a Siren + R&B lights a couple times then put a video out explaining that he can only use them with authorization from police/fire, otherwise its just your common A+W / A+A
The film was mirroring the standard practices of New York City and not so much of creating the joke of being anti-establishment by using police lights. It was known that NYC volunteer fire fighters would run blue lights on the front of their vehicles while the police used red. A policy that is still in effect today. Both police and fire departments there however use red and blue towards the rear of the vehicles. This would fall in line with how the actors would explain in interviews how they felt like a team of volunteer fire fighters running around town, trying to save the day.
I saw today on a restoration video of Ecto-1 Dan Aykroyd said the lights were originally gonna be purple! I think that would have been cool honestly but also love the blue.
Where I grew up we had a guy in the car club with a 1964 Galaxie police car with the big red light and similar siren as you have. At least there as long as you do not use them in public it's perfectly fine.
@@DavidJohnson-bn5vb That is because state laws vary. Some states only make it illegal to activate them on a public roadway, whereas other states make it illegal for the lights to be mounted on the vehicle (unless they are covered or used in a parade).
Legality depends on the municipality. Few areas use only blue lights like that, and may or may not regulate the use of blues. Blues (and sometimes even greens) are regulated, or at least have definitions attached, particularly in areas with active volunteer fire departments.
@@smorris281 Yeah, the only time municipalities or depts can put custom regulations on is when it's further restricted. Like some depts I've seen that just out right forbid folks that aren't chief officers from running lights period for whateer reason
@@smorris281 As I am not a legal expert I was being careful, speaking only from my personal observations. I've also seen distinctions between state and local in, for example, Illinois, Chicago Police versus the rest of the state. The forward-facing red Mars light on the roof is virtually guaranteed to make it illegal anywhere. A GB's safety is at least having a combination of lights that doesn't mimic any actual agency, to avoid felony charges of impersonation, even if by regulation (different branch of law) blues are prohibited.
If I won the lottery and built an ECTO style car, that would tour and travel across different jurisdictions, I'd sacrifice a fair chunk of screen authenticity by having multicolor LED lightbars more like (but not exactly like) GB2's ECTO 1A, to improve the legality (even if not 100%). I'd TRY to keep things like the red Mars light, but have it hard-wired to the multicolor mix. Forward facing white "kickers" (front grille, etc.) would be wired to ONLY light off when the vehicle is in gear, to comply with certain state regulations I've heard of. I'd omit 1A's second layer of strobes and garish color banner boards. Call it a transitional stage between 1 & 1A.
Emergency responder here! I can't speak for other states, but in my home state of Maryland, using blue lights on the road is illegal. Having a *show car* with the lights on it, operating on *private property* is not. Car shows in my area have old, classic emergency vehicles with light bars and the works on them. As long as you *aren't* doing it on the road, having the lights inoperable is totally fine! I believe most states have this same rule as well, but check your locality! I would even suggest wiring a 'master switch' to them so you can have a safety built in. My personal truck has red-and-whites for operating on emergencies when I'm permitted to use them, but has a master kill switch to ensure they're never accidentally operated. Hope this helps!
In most states it is not illegal to have the lights on the car. It is illegal to run them when on the street and in motion unless you are part of a parade or other special event. The charge you would get for running the lights on the street is impersonating a police officer (the last I checked anyway).
Yeah, I've just stuck with Amber on my Ecto lol! I believe (In the UK) We can have them on the Ecto but not on. Unless on private land then we can have fun! But it's true, Just be sensible and everyone can enjoy the franchise Ectos!
I don't know what state you are in, but here in Maryland, it is perfectly legal to have emergency lights in/on your vehicle. You just can't have them activated while you are driving down the road. As soon as you pull into a parking lot and park, you can turn them on for display and so fourth. We actually have quite a few people in my neck of the woods that fix up old police cars and take them to shows. You'll be minding your business and all of a sudden you'll see a '96 Caprice go by decked out like an old MSP car.
In Pennsylvania where I live there's a couple volunteer firefighters that actually have decals on their cars with blue lights. More than likely they registered and told the state police and local police departments that there volunteer firefighters.
In Philly and New Jersey it’s legal to have them on your vehicle but illegal to put them on. my parents were volunteer paramedics for a few years till they stopped volunteering and ended having their own business in South Jersey. My dad left the bars on their 3 vehicles including my mom’s station wagon for 10 years till they bought new vehicles and my dad donated the bars, sirens and the equipment to our local EMT station. The bars you have my mom’s station wagon had the same ones. 😀
I live on Long Island NY, we have a few Ecto's around and the police have never said boo to them that I've heard. I think it's a matter of being responsible & not doing anything stupid. As for the Lights, in NY Red are for Emergencey Vehicles (Polie, Fire, EMS) but they also use Blue & Green. Yellow is for Construction/ Utility trucks, Blue are for Volunteer Firefighters, Green is for Volunteer EMS units. thats just NY though
In my state, the motor vehicle code states, "...whether lit, or unlit...." At one of my old departments, we actually had black covers that went over the light bars with "OUT OF SERVICE" on them for when the cars were out for maintenance and being driven by the mechanics. Similar is supposed to be done for vintage restorations/recreations when not in shows/parades. Part of it is because they don't want a civilian approaching an out of service cruiser in an emergency. That being said, I don't think anyone I know would actually enforce that on an Ecto replica as it's pretty obviously not an official vehicle.
Yeah, that's pretty much my take on it, too. I don't think you could argue that someone actually mistook it for a police car. Maybe at night, but still...
I'm working on a new set of lights specific to this problem. I ended up just building my own set because regular lightbars are expensive. My original set were made with blue semi-trailer marker lights, but here's the new idea... I used vinyl fence railing for the body so it's like a long project box. Nice and hallow inside for the electronics. I used a 2 channel flasher to achieve the flashing effect. What I plan on doing is putting a set of RGB LED light strips inside so I can change colors for different situatiuons. I'd hardwire the strips to display only three colors: Blue, Amber, and White. In Illinois IDOT declares blue flashing is for municipal/county/state emergency vehicles, amber is for roadside assist/construction/utility vehicles (A sorta gray area more-guideline-than-rule), and white is for civilian use. The nice thing about video/image editing software is we can have the white lights running on the street then have them changed to blue in post. Although amber is reserved for company vehicles, I believe cops won't be as pissy about you using them if say on your way to a convention, you witness a car accident. You can switch to amber mode and assist in the accident. Sketchy, but most cops understand you're trying to help and NOT impersonate some kind of legal authority. That, and you'd be laughed out of the stationhouse for arresting 4 idiots in jumpsuits for using amber light bars for an actual appropriate situation. The only good place for us to use said lights in blue mode would be private property: Parking lots, personal driveways, things of that sort. Get to the edge of or the other side of the location on private property, flip the colors to blue, and make your grand entrance. Even if you check state laws, you need to check municipalities if you're legal. My buddy Jerry (Chicago Ecto-1) warned me never, _ever_ go though Arlington Heights even with blue domes on the vehicle. Even if they're off, that's breaking a law, because these people are paranoid dipshits. But, if you have clear domes, you're legal. He has that with blue bulbs. See? The dipshit thing is accurate.
I'm doing a similar thing with the Ecto-1A bars, but I'm using real Code 3 parts. I've built two bars out of like six parts bars. They're not as expensive as you'd think.
Blue lights here in NJ designate a Volunteer responder in which you need a permit. Where as in other states blue is Police, varies by location. You can bag the lights while driving around ( they have a light bar out of service cover)
In New York State, blue lights are for volunteer firefighters on their way to a call. So you would have to be a volunteer fireman with a permit for using a blue light. Red lights are police and they’re usually a combination of red and blue lights. Yellow lights would be construction or hazard and no permit is required. I’m pretty sure if you don’t have the blue lights on in NY it would be legal.
While it was Illegal with that final cop story, that cop was kind of a douche. Like, he’s got no soul if he didn’t acknowledge that he was standing in front of Ecto-1. He did do the right thing, but c’mon.
Knight Rider lights are also ilegal, unfortunately. I just keep my car as factory as possible to keep police attention away as much as possible. But good job on the Ghostbusters car, it It is a dream come true to have one
I didn't realise till recently, but Ecto 1A in Ghostbusters 2 has a mix of green lights, possibly to have it stand out more from the last car, but also so it's more legal to run. In the UK you definitely get quizzed for having blue lights, even if they don't work, and if they catch you with them on, you do get a fine, and are also told to remove the lights from the vehicle, or keep the vehicle on private land.
Yeah, I'm pretty choosey on when to run them. I recently put them on driving past a high school track meet. I don't think anyone's going to mistake me for an emergency vehicle.
I found a car from the 50s I don't even know what kind of car it is yet but it has wings in the back and I wanted to buy it and turn it into the Ecto-1! I completely understand how much it's gonna cost but I hope at some point my dream will come true, love your vids bro keep it up
You will need a '59 Cadillac sedan of some sort if you want to do a whole lotta work. The 4 doors share the same chassis and front half as the Miller Meteor.
Love the car, love the stories, and love watching your videos. Keep 'em comin. ^__^ If you're ever in Houston, lemme know and me and the guys will get you a steak and a bourbon or something.
Love this video and all the advice. I'm one of the many looking to build an Ecto 1 here in the SF Bay area. I've always wondered about the legality of the lights; like wanting to show up outside the local police station and say, 'hey, can I ask you about my car?...' Thanks!
There's an Ecto in the local Ghost Corps franchise here in south Florida, and he has purple and green lights, so it's okay. 🤣 I'm sure each state or county has different laws involving the legality of the use of emergency vehicle lights.
California seems to have pretty strict laws on that: “No vehicle shall be equipped with any lamp or illuminating device not required or permitted in this code, nor shall any lamp or illuminating device be mounted inside a vehicle unless specifically permitted by this code....” There may be a way to get a permit or exception, but on its face, the law says it is illegal in California.
4x4 forum someone coming back from Moab got pulled over because he was volunteer fire for his small town and they made him cover up the lights even though they weren't on and he had paperwork showing he was volunteer. Absolutely nuts.
It is absolutely not illegal. As long as you do not turn them on. The most serious issue with blue lights on any car is impersonating a Police Officer. And clearly, you are not doing that. It is a movie prop. A stunt vehicle. A classic collectors item.
There are products made for covering up lightbars, they are usually a black cover and sometimes will have white wording saying "Out of Service" or "Not in service", Alternatively some owners will either have a set of spare lenses or domes that they swap out for while on the road going to or from events, either regular clear or they may have painted them black.
Here in the uk if you have or own a replica emergency vehicle or anything with blue lights on the roof we are meant to have them coved when on the roads, in the 10+ years of working with our Ecto not once have we had them hidden.
The legal aspect applies specifically to impersonating a police officer, there is no way anyone is going to think you are a police car, they will be too busy grinning too much. :)
It has more to do with appearing as an emergency vehicle: not necessarily whether you are pretending to be a cop. Actually impersonating a cop would entail you trying to convince others that you are a cop, specifically.
@@SpartacusColo100% fact, any cop that has the balls to cite or threaten you clearly ain't thinking of the future embarrassing repercussions of public retaliation and civil legality
@@JOHNSMITH-dc6lr Most state statutes declare that any flashing warning lights, other than standard headlights, turn lights, clearance lights, etc. be amber in color, and not much else. State of Colorado allows amber and white. If you run red or blue warning lights on your vehicle, then you are in violation. I know a guy who got ticketed for having one of those Knight Rider oscillating red lights on the front of his car running. You can have the equipment on your vehicle (reds, blues, greens, etc.), you just can't be operating on a public road way with those lights running. It's mostly about appearing as an emergency vehicle.
@@SpartacusColo seen someone couple weeks ago in Indiana popped cause they had the stupid red ring light around the headlights of the jeep they had. it got impounded. DOT cop got them.
In the states, it varies by state. Here in Pennsylvania, blue lights can be used by volunteer EMS and Firefighters and I've known people who had them mounted to their cars. The advice was to cover them with garbage bags when traveling in nearby Ohio, as red was for volunteers and blue was reserved for police.
this is going to vary so much from state to state. In Illinois blue, red, green, amber, and purple are all illegal unless certain things. Here volunteer firefighters can get blue lights. My recommendation is 1) get in good with local fire and police, 2) have a master kill switch for lights and siren that is keyed and not accessible while driving (they are not wired up, officer), 3) you can also see about "Not in Service" bags to go over the lights. On another note, I also believe that tint would also be considered illegal here in Illinois on the front side windows.
Get yourself a Feniex Typhoon siren controller. It comes with the Ecto siren as a standard siren sound. It sounds awesome, complete with the ramp up and ramp down effect when you turn it on and off. We have that controller on several of our response vehicles (though we normally use the typical yelp/wail patterns). As for the lighting, it's only illegal if they are activated when you are on a public roadway. Off, or in a private parking lot. No problem!
You can buy custom snap-on blackout covers for the lights. Police dept. mechanics here cover the light bars when driving out-of-service units for test drives.
Everybody knows exactly what it is. And if they don't you're probably in a different kind of trouble. Like The Hills Have Eyes / Wrong Turn kind of trouble. Nothing But Trouble. To use a more Dan Aykroyd appropriate reference.
It depends upon the state and what color lights their law enforcement uses the actual Ghostbusters film was filmed in New York which uses red lights on all of their police cars and blue lights on volunteer firefighters personal vehicles so they were able to get away with it but like you said as long as you're not driving down the road with them on you shouldn't have any problems if you build a replica ecto-1 with working lights
@@ApollonDriver when I was growing up in upstate New York volunteer firefighters ran blue lights on their personal vehicles I know this because I grew up in a fire department now unless they changed it in the 20 something years since I've lived in New York then that's the information I am going by
i think in some states it may be illegal to have the lights or if they dont work they are to be removed. i know if you have the kc daylighter lights you know the ones you always see on top of trucks and are covered in some states they say they need to be disconnected or even removed. you would need to check with your local laws. it maybe possible to get an exemption for authentic replica movie cars. i think when they film for movies they close off the streets but you still need to be careful so you dont crash into something.
I understand where your coming from. I have my old security uniform cover in Ghostbusters patches to cover up the stuff from the company I use to work for and people would come up to me often and want to talk about Ghostbusters and a couple time I had people act as if I really was a Ghostbuster they were so excited.
Depends where your at, different places use different color codes. Where I am from security vehicles use green and clear, tow trucks and cautionary vehicles use amber/yellow and we use red and clear lights on our personal vehicles for the volunteer fire department and local law enforcement uses blue or blue and red. If I cross over state lines to the north of me I have to cover my light bar because the cops use all red and fire department has blue. I got pulled over for impersonating a police officer. Most cops would or will leave you alone as long as your not using them while driving. I also had a friend on the department that had red and white headlight strobes but he used those super bright LEDs that had a blue tint to them and he got in trouble.
In Illinois i was a volunteer FF. We were allowed to have BLUE LIGHTS on our car. Only have to be "paged" out on a fire call. You can go through a red light, need to slow down, and go through.
It only counts if you turn them on, right? And if you have a retro police car like the kind from Andy Griffith they sell covers for the lights and door, right?
The ghost busters movie took place in new York where emergency vehicles lights are blue and police lights are red so that as why the ecto1 has blue lights
it might be different there, but went to our police dept, and they said as long as you dont flash em while driving, and that 25 yr old bike cop with the buzz cut, probably shouldnt be a cop
In California if you have a movie production company you can stencil both sides of the door with thevwords “ movie car “ and the cops will leave you alone they also will register cars with the local police department you might consider doing that where you live
I'm glad you found forgiveness in your heart. Your a good guy. I honestly would've been annoyed by him. Have fun with your hero car buddy and remember "Don't cross your streams"😮
i was filming a scene locally using old cars that was supposed to be set in California so we created paper licence plates to tape over the local ones. I asked a friend of mine who is a police officer if we could do that and she said "No, it's illegal, but do it anyway. We won't care".
Emergency light laws are different from state to state. I know that here in PA, its not illegal to have blue lights on your vehicle, but its illegal to use them if you are not a first responder. The exception to this is you can't put emergency lights on a police car look alike, period. I'm sure there is some kind of exception for novelty vehicles like yours. I believe you can run blue lights or any emergency lights for that matter as long as you are not on a public road.
The consensus usually is as long as you aren't running them. Most cops don't care. I purchased an old NYPD cruiser that was screen used in "Third Watch" I drove it from NYC to Springfield Missouri without any problem. Same with my 91 CHP Crown Vic that was an actual CHP slicktop. It was marked, had all the proper equipment, only the long guns were fake. Again, I drove it home. No issue, except for a trooper whose dad drove the car when it was on duty in Needles. And wanted a picture of it.
There are 2 things, depending on state, there are lightbar covers that obstructs lights 100% and thus considered "disabled". Also most states, it's the blue light that is all that's illegal if you were to change colours. You can have light bars fully legally in all states if you avoid blue mostly then also red for the others that consider that. White and amber are always safe to have. Best info I have from owning a police vehicle from KC Police cars.
All in all check local laws and mainly your state police office for the laws in your state. Some its legal as its all blue. Other states use blue so. Some require permits for special use lights during events. It varies.
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Fun Fact: first day of filming on the original Ghostbusters, they didn't have their filming permits yet. Murray and Aykroyd piled into the Ecto-1 and drove it around New York with a camera crew following as they filmed all those shots of the car, in pretty much the same way you guys did. And the shots of them running down the sidewalk with their packs on was done the same day, in the same way. No permits. Just hop out, and run down the sidewalk before anyone can catch them.
Honestly, driving around in an Ecto-1 and running down the streets in jumpsuits and proton packs sounds funnier in a place where nobody knows about Ghostbusters
People would be so dumbfounded by the sight of that
@@leapinglasagna9718 “What are those bozos doing out here in that get up?”
“That’s Florida for ya, Mark.”
Like the shot when they were at Rockefeller center. They didn't have permits to film yet and you can see a security guard chasing them out. Lol
They were actually running from the cops in that scene because they got caught
Some good stuff was filmed with no permits. The car chase in The French Connection and several scenes in The Terminator, for a start.
It's an obvious that this car is a show car and only a rookie would give you grief. And I can you tell you from a GA cops prospective. Enjoy the car, did a great job.
I've got a good friend who's a former cop, and he's basically said the same thing. Same thing with teachers. Some people teach because they want to be the boss.
Only a poser, wouldnt see, thats SO the wrong car, e to one did NOT look like that,, wrong year, wrong body style, need i go on?
@@unfinishedstudios it's legal to have the lights on the car. as long as you don't turn on the lights while driving on the road. but of your at a car show or in a parade you can put them on
@@superfanb5742 why do cops have a actual problem with everything yet we lie to ourselves that is "the land of the free" without the actual freedom with the true fact you get in trouble with everything from this "justice law" ⚖ just obedience to our lands law and be fine. Don't? Or else get sue or whatever they have a problem with.
@@unfinishedstudios did he really mean like NEVER? To ever see you 👻🚫 or really bad day? Irony of calling USA "land of the free " when 1 cop as a problem with hunting evil 👻 the way cops go after killers and crime. 🤨
I wish I knew ppl around my town who were into Ghostbusters this much. It's hard be a loan super fan.
I understand you man. To settle that loneliness I say either try to make a fan group or (better option) if your state has a fan group(s), then join them. I saw Afterlife with The Gateway City Ghostbusters and after showing them my enthusiasm and some of my props, they offered me to join their group.
just let ppl know on fb and such your passions im sure someone will join you on the journey, i recently been asked to join a fan group or to make one.. and who knows i may :) -Dan
Same
SAME!
I used to be a fan of loans, until I discovered I had to pay back more than I borrowed and I stopped taking them! But I feel your pain!
Walter Peck: Bicycle Cop
Ha! Totally.
Nice one bro!
That cop had no d**k.
It's true after years of riding that bike this man had no dick
From my experience most bike cops are assholes because they feel like they've been neutered since their siren is a little ting ting
In the context of the movie they're probably illegal too. After all, each of them is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on their back and there are even rumours of the presence of noxious, possibly hazardous waste chemicals in their basement. ;P
They likely got permits etc like you can for movies etc.
@@southaussiegarbo2054 I mean the GhostBusters themselves may not have them legally.
Yea, in the early days of their business, they really weren't all that bothered with legalities, were they? That's why Walter Peck wasn't a villain, just an antagonist. If the story were from his POV, he'd have been the hero of the story as he doggedly pursued the law breaking renegades.
@@Dargonhuman Except Peck was fom the EPA and I feel like the irony is that he insisted on seeing their containment unit because he thought they were frauds. If they were actually frauds then there wouldn't be any reason for HIM to care about their containment unit. But the fact that they're not frauds actually validates his concerns, but since he was disingenuous he didn't actually take the precautions that his concerns would have warranted thus causing the containment failure that he was allegedly trying to prevent.
So he's a villain who's accidentally justified
@@BluCappy419 Counterpoint: The Ghostbusters weren't frauds but they were operating their highly dangerous equipment illegally so Peck was perfectly justified in his actions as an agent of the EPA.
Had they gone through the proper channels, done the paperwork, hired people to do the proper assessments and gotten their permits, Peck would have simply sent an inspector down every few months to ensure they were following protocols instead of having to open a full investigation into their operations.
Here in the UK, you can have emergency lighting but as you said, not running whilst driving on a public highway - unless previously arranged. You can buy orange canvas covers with "not an emergency vehicle" on them that covers you for long haul journeys. The officer I spoke to said even he worries that people will see something like the Ectomobile, with all the ridiculous apparatus, and STILL think it was a legit emergency vehicle, but its all about seeing the lights from a distance. You usually get a lot more lee-way if they're powered down and maybe disconnected from the unit whilst going long distance.
Yes , pull the fuse if in doubt and you will be OK . We had a zealot who saw a preserved fire engine ( 1950's Dennis F12 with wheeled escape ladder ) parked up at a service area and moaned about the blue lights - had his gas put at a peep when we pointed out it actually belonged to , and maintained by , the fire brigade , we were all employees and most of us were still qualified emergency responders licensed to drive operational vehicles anyway . I think the cop took great pleasure in telling him that .
in case any UK folks want to know - you can have blue flashing lights on your vehicle here BUT they must be covered up (eg bagged or wrapped in sacking or similar) while on the public highway. You are then free to uncover them and use them on private property.
For this reason, you will also sometimes see actual real police vehicles which are temporarily out of service, being driven by non police officers, but support staff, eg on the way to servicing, or moving vehicles where they need to use the public highway, and because it's not in service and not driven by a police officer, they will sometimes bag the lights to prevent accidental illumination.
As long as you are not trying to impersonate an emergency or law enforcement vehicle, I think the cops let this slide because it is a show car replica from an iconic movie. If you put flashing lights or a siren on a Jeep then you'd likely get ticketed.
Great video and our family loves the Ghostbusters. My 75-year-old father never had a ticket of any kind ever. One day he did a half-ass stop at a side street stop sign. A cop was hiding in the nearby field. He pulled my father over, for a California stop. Once he found out dad never had a ticket, the Cops face lit up with color. He was absolutely ecstatic he was able to give dad a ticket. He even checked everything he could. He gave dad a failure to stop ticket and a non-functioning horn ticket. He was literally skipping with joy back to his car. An people wounded why the public don't like cops. 🤔🤯🤓
That really sucks.
I mean. I read this with a smile. I think you're just easily offended
It only takes ONE officer to ruin your entire vibe. I drive a 1976 Ford Gran Torino (Yes, THAT one) for the last 15 years and got nothing but love from everyone who saw the car. I am a completist; I had a red bubble light for pictures. Always kept in on the transmission hump between the bucket seats. Local LEO's said I could run it as long as I wasn't doing traffic stops.
But there was ONE state trooper who killed my vibe. There must've been a car show in town earlier that day cos he saw that White stripe and came right after me. It took him a good 7 minutes to approach the car passenger's side. Asked for my license. "What's the light for?" I asked him if he knew of the TV show; he didn't, went back to his cruiser. Another 20 minutes, he comes back to the car and hands me a ticket about my seatbelt not being worn properly.
The actual written part of the summons was 2 paragraphs long, and was about as convoluted as anything I'd seen. I went to the local PD (who knew me and the car) so I could make a copy; one of the officers read it and shook his head. As in only a state officer would make up something like that. And he remains the sole buzz kill I ever had.🙃
That cop is a real card. Must be fun at parties. I understand legalities and stuff though, glad it didn’t get impounded
The pd would have been sued and publicly humiliated for claiming ignorance on an obvious movie replica that's also identified as non emergency vechile, any ecto owners are smart enough to have cameras installed and posted intent
I'm 23 and even i know about ecto 1. I don't believe that he didn't recognize that car.
@@swilleh_ unless u live in a 3rd world country without tv no one going to believe that it's almost 2024 lol
@@JOHNSMITH-dc6lrThat's actually a really good idea, If I ever come across the funds to make an ecto i'm doing that
@@dannybrezelhorner2715 th-cam.com/users/shortsqUe9DmPOLng?si=UnChv5zYgm7Zqu8B
In Pennsylvania, blue lights are for firefighters personal vehicles. Red and Blue are police and Red only are fire apparatus, fire chiefs, EMA and ambulances.
I’m pretty sure that blue lights are courtesy lights. Up here in upstate NY, blue only is volunteer firefighters/EMS.
You’re not required to get out of the way, but you’re a Walter Peck if you don’t
@@leighbellouny3904 correct, people are only required to move aside for red lights or red and blue lights. Blue only is a courtesy and blue lighters must follow all the rules of the road. Many fire companies have banned them and if you live in an area with lights of stop lights, it’s kind of pointless to have them. You look stupid sitting at a red light with your blue lights flashing…lol!
each state has its thing. blue here in Indiana is VFD, red/blue PD and red fd/ems but Ohio and much of the south blue is PD along with some areas red/blue. red for fd/vfd/ems.
Don't they also have yellow lights as well, or at least experiencing with it because it's more visible than red?
@@DutchFunkenstein Yellow basically means caution, basically nothing to a US driver, granting no authority to the vehicle bearing it, adding ONLY, as you note, visibility. Green occasionally has legal definition, and is also used to enhance visibility, especially now in the LED age where green holds it color better and doesn't bleach itself out quickly.
I think it just brings a massive smile to people's faces they overlook the legality of it. And I agree 👍
It really depends on what municipality you're driving through and how strict the police are. In my group (steel city ghostbusters) we've had many ecto's come and go over the years and our encounters with law enforcement have always been a positive experience. When I had my own ecto that was converted from a ford taurus station wagon, I've been pulled over 3 times by 3 different departments. But It was never cause my lights, it was cause they wanted to take a picture with it lol. But they all said to be responsible with the lights and not run them on the road. So, with people who wanna build an ecto; don't be a jerk, be responsible, and don't run your lights on public streets. If you're cool with the cops, they'll be cool with you.
Yep. That's pretty much it.
U get the wrong cop he say u trying to impersonate and by car
Only if You are a "white citizen" too.😂👍🤣
you can own the lights even on replica police cars. the issue they can bring up is you having those lights causing confusion as people thinking you are law enforcement or rescue,. a ghost busters car clearly will not cause that. even if they still tried to make a case you got a strong historical/story argument. the laws where made to prevent fake police and rescue. a line you clearly do not cross.
@@billmopar6461 Would be lovely to see that go to court and find out the judge was a fan too !
Thank you for this video. TH-cam recommended, so I just found your channel. For me, who grew up on Ghostbusters, it's always a great joy to see this car.
Hey, thanks for watching!
@@unfinishedstudios I wish I could afford doing some thing like this.....then at every Halloween, drive down to our tourist mecca boulevard, Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki......guarantee it would be a "chick magnet"..............
Generally it's not illegal. (it might be technically). It's more about using them. I had a Knight Rider scanner light in the grill of an old chevy flat nose van. ran them on the road and got stopped because they were red and flashing.... Like someone would mistake my van for an emergency vehicle. So I only used them in parking lots after that.
Funny enough, I did own a retired van ambulance. It did not have any signage saying it was an ambulance or EMS. It had no E lights, It did have spot lights and work light-headlights on the sides and it did have to red like school bus stop lights on the back that were wired for brakes. I was working carny at a fair one weekend, I had the van to sleep in. A real police officer thought I was a real medical ambulance and tried calling me on his radio
Sometimes they don't seem to think...I'm into Ham Radio so I have a few extra antennas on my car...I drive a fairly bland (function over form) white Subaru Outback with special use plates that say AMATEUR RADIO in large font opposite the state name and my callsign for the tag number Front and rear plates. Not once but TWICE I have been mistaken for an unmarked cop in a parkinglot by police in marked cruisers looking for their buddies.
Awesome video and awesome car! I am a 25 year law enforcement veteran and a major ghostbusters fan! Here in the State of Texas: it is not legal to use them to clear traffic while driving or using them to the capacity of pretending that your a peace office (impersonating a peace officer) but it is legal to own them or have them on you car.
actually NOT, ..if you have emergency lights in your possession reagardless if they are ON or NOT...it is still a felony... its called POSSESSION with INTENT to impersonate....
Just TH-cam search Jeremy dewitte florida police impersonator!
@@tommytomtomtLLLMMMFFFAAAOOO no justice in the entire world would CONSIDER this obvious vechile of non emergency use WHILE OFF on public roads to be confussed with LE or emergency use, id say take the fix it ticket and embarrass that city/county by requesting the judge to throw out this rediculus ticket, assumption this vechile could be "confussed" with any form of "emergency use" while off driving on public roads, all ectos need to have cams installed or any car for that matter to keep LE in check, have signs or stickers posted, without being disrespectful inform the cop this movie replica has video recording, don't argue just do as told, you get warned or cited, take it, file a complaint w that pd and hire an attorney and file harassment suit, it's 2023 no cop can claim ignorence of a movie lol then blast them on all media outlets for wasting your time
@@G.Harley.Davidson just google cop impersonators on YT......got choke guys in the mainland, some with police scanners, some are who I call "cop wannabe" are the security guards in some security businesses in town. this is what i heard in my town, that those that try pass the recruitment for police, and they get rejected, end up working in the "harbor patrol section, or sheriffs dept".
@@tommytomtomt In my town, this young gal's rape and murder, changed the policy of our local police because there was a possibility that her KILLER was a cop. Google Lisa Au murder......
Here in Quebec, a Ghostbusters fan had problems with his reproduction of a Ghostbusters police car. He covered the flashing lights with a black cloth that said "out of service" and police officers simply told him to use a black cloth without text. He finally installed black painted lenses when riding on the road.
I'm in Quebec too, and yeah... there's an authority called "Contrôle Routier" who're sort-of cops but specifically concerned with trucking, taxis, work trucks, etc. My employer mistakenly placed amber-and-white rooftop lights rather than pure amber on a couple of vehicles in our fleet, and one of their agents made it his mission to pull them over whenever he spotted them. Never for a ticket, just for stern warnings. 🤔
@@Dee_Just_Dee Je sais ce qu'ils sont. Un membre de ma famille était un contrôleur routier. Ils ne sont pas tous zélés. Ils sont conscients que leur travail consiste avant tout à prévenir les accidents.
À propos des gyrophares, la couleur blanche est effectivement réservée aux véhicules d'urgence. Mais ça n'a pas toujours été le cas. À une époque, l'utilisation du blanc était une "zone grise". Le blanc n'est pas une couleur donc selon l'interprétation qu'on faisait du CSR, le blanc pouvait possiblement être utilisé pour tout véhicule autorisé à être muni de gyrophares. Ce point a été clarifié en 2018 pour les réserver aux véhicules d'urgence et aux véhicules d'entreprises funéraires.
J'ai d'ailleurs connu un remorqueur dont le patron avait mis du blanc sur les côtés des gyrophares pour augmenter la visibilité.
@sg39g Merci pour l'historique! Toujours intéressant!
Quoi que ça soit, j'ai informé mes supérieurs que nous serions 100% conformes à la loi juste en utilisant des gyrophares oranges, et ils ont donc effectué le changement pour quelques centaines de dollars... par acheter les pièces sur Amazon et laisser la tâche de remplacement à moi. 😅
@@Dee_Just_Dee Et c'est une flotte de quel genre de véhicule?
if you use the car as a display in a car show, or promotional thing with the GB franchise, or even a parade, that is perfectly fine. However, if you take your family out on a dinner and you let them in the car to just cruise around, THEN its illegal to turn on the lights.
Interesting bit of trivia, in Missouri tow trucks are allowed to be fitted with blue lights and sirens. But can only turn them on when police dispatcher authorizes it.
Here In Concord, New Hampshire All Towing Vehicle's have Amber/Yellow Light's (NO SIREN'S ALLOWED), Fire Department Vehicle's are Red, White & Amber Light's, Police Department Vehicle's are All Blue with some White Light's and 2 Red LED's in the back brake light's & finally All Green Light's are Security Vehicle's.
@@skunklover5725 Indiana all blue is VFD. (someone told me there is a push to move PD to all blue to match Ohio/KY) PD red/blue and FD all red and some red/green
Yeah i know that because of Ron Pratt (Midwest Truck Sales & Service), He got ragged on for using a Siren + R&B lights a couple times then put a video out explaining that he can only use them with authorization from police/fire, otherwise its just your common A+W / A+A
This is some years ago but I used to see in Iowa, red lights on tow trucks and blue lights on volunteer firefighters personal vehicles.
I know about it because I follow an towing company owner Ron Pratt who posts videos on here who is based in Missouri.
Those cars are cultural cinematography icons of USA and even internationally.
The film was mirroring the standard practices of New York City and not so much of creating the joke of being anti-establishment by using police lights. It was known that NYC volunteer fire fighters would run blue lights on the front of their vehicles while the police used red. A policy that is still in effect today. Both police and fire departments there however use red and blue towards the rear of the vehicles. This would fall in line with how the actors would explain in interviews how they felt like a team of volunteer fire fighters running around town, trying to save the day.
TREVOR HARRIS
I saw today on a restoration video of Ecto-1 Dan Aykroyd said the lights were originally gonna be purple! I think that would have been cool honestly but also love the blue.
If I had millions of dollars, I'd build his original design. It was very cool.
Where I grew up we had a guy in the car club with a 1964 Galaxie police car with the big red light and similar siren as you have. At least there as long as you do not use them in public it's perfectly fine.
I have seen covers placed over the lights while transporting car.
@@DavidJohnson-bn5vb That is because state laws vary. Some states only make it illegal to activate them on a public roadway, whereas other states make it illegal for the lights to be mounted on the vehicle (unless they are covered or used in a parade).
That interior is so awesome!
This is awesome. I live in Barrow County for two years now. I'll be looking out for ya! I am huge fan.
We're around!
Legality depends on the municipality. Few areas use only blue lights like that, and may or may not regulate the use of blues. Blues (and sometimes even greens) are regulated, or at least have definitions attached, particularly in areas with active volunteer fire departments.
Emergency lights are regulated by the state, not local municipalities. They fall under the DOT in most cases.
@@smorris281 Yeah, the only time municipalities or depts can put custom regulations on is when it's further restricted. Like some depts I've seen that just out right forbid folks that aren't chief officers from running lights period for whateer reason
@@smorris281 As I am not a legal expert I was being careful, speaking only from my personal observations. I've also seen distinctions between state and local in, for example, Illinois, Chicago Police versus the rest of the state. The forward-facing red Mars light on the roof is virtually guaranteed to make it illegal anywhere. A GB's safety is at least having a combination of lights that doesn't mimic any actual agency, to avoid felony charges of impersonation, even if by regulation (different branch of law) blues are prohibited.
If I won the lottery and built an ECTO style car, that would tour and travel across different jurisdictions, I'd sacrifice a fair chunk of screen authenticity by having multicolor LED lightbars more like (but not exactly like) GB2's ECTO 1A, to improve the legality (even if not 100%). I'd TRY to keep things like the red Mars light, but have it hard-wired to the multicolor mix. Forward facing white "kickers" (front grille, etc.) would be wired to ONLY light off when the vehicle is in gear, to comply with certain state regulations I've heard of. I'd omit 1A's second layer of strobes and garish color banner boards. Call it a transitional stage between 1 & 1A.
Emergency responder here! I can't speak for other states, but in my home state of Maryland, using blue lights on the road is illegal. Having a *show car* with the lights on it, operating on *private property* is not. Car shows in my area have old, classic emergency vehicles with light bars and the works on them. As long as you *aren't* doing it on the road, having the lights inoperable is totally fine! I believe most states have this same rule as well, but check your locality!
I would even suggest wiring a 'master switch' to them so you can have a safety built in. My personal truck has red-and-whites for operating on emergencies when I'm permitted to use them, but has a master kill switch to ensure they're never accidentally operated.
Hope this helps!
In most states it is not illegal to have the lights on the car. It is illegal to run them when on the street and in motion unless you are part of a parade or other special event. The charge you would get for running the lights on the street is impersonating a police officer (the last I checked anyway).
Yeah, I've just stuck with Amber on my Ecto lol!
I believe (In the UK) We can have them on the Ecto but not on. Unless on private land then we can have fun!
But it's true, Just be sensible and everyone can enjoy the franchise Ectos!
Thats one thing I always wondered, thanks for the info and the laugh. Great job on the car
I don't know what state you are in, but here in Maryland, it is perfectly legal to have emergency lights in/on your vehicle. You just can't have them activated while you are driving down the road. As soon as you pull into a parking lot and park, you can turn them on for display and so fourth. We actually have quite a few people in my neck of the woods that fix up old police cars and take them to shows. You'll be minding your business and all of a sudden you'll see a '96 Caprice go by decked out like an old MSP car.
I'd be more worried with the unlicensed Nuclear accelerators in the back....
Ha.
In Pennsylvania where I live there's a couple volunteer firefighters that actually have decals on their cars with blue lights. More than likely they registered and told the state police and local police departments that there volunteer firefighters.
In Philly and New Jersey it’s legal to have them on your vehicle but illegal to put them on. my parents were volunteer paramedics for a few years till they stopped volunteering and ended having their own business in South Jersey. My dad left the bars on their 3 vehicles including my mom’s station wagon for 10 years till they bought new vehicles and my dad donated the bars, sirens and the equipment to our local EMT station. The bars you have my mom’s station wagon had the same ones. 😀
"Volunteer Paramedics"? Never heard of such a thing. Must be just a US thing as we don't have that in Australia.
I live on Long Island NY, we have a few Ecto's around and the police have never said boo to them that I've heard. I think it's a matter of being responsible & not doing anything stupid. As for the Lights, in NY Red are for Emergencey Vehicles (Polie, Fire, EMS) but they also use Blue & Green. Yellow is for Construction/ Utility trucks, Blue are for Volunteer Firefighters, Green is for Volunteer EMS units. thats just NY though
Cant wait to see the new one you are building!!
In my state, the motor vehicle code states, "...whether lit, or unlit...." At one of my old departments, we actually had black covers that went over the light bars with "OUT OF SERVICE" on them for when the cars were out for maintenance and being driven by the mechanics. Similar is supposed to be done for vintage restorations/recreations when not in shows/parades. Part of it is because they don't want a civilian approaching an out of service cruiser in an emergency.
That being said, I don't think anyone I know would actually enforce that on an Ecto replica as it's pretty obviously not an official vehicle.
Yeah, that's pretty much my take on it, too. I don't think you could argue that someone actually mistook it for a police car. Maybe at night, but still...
I'm working on a new set of lights specific to this problem. I ended up just building my own set because regular lightbars are expensive. My original set were made with blue semi-trailer marker lights, but here's the new idea...
I used vinyl fence railing for the body so it's like a long project box. Nice and hallow inside for the electronics. I used a 2 channel flasher to achieve the flashing effect. What I plan on doing is putting a set of RGB LED light strips inside so I can change colors for different situatiuons. I'd hardwire the strips to display only three colors: Blue, Amber, and White. In Illinois IDOT declares blue flashing is for municipal/county/state emergency vehicles, amber is for roadside assist/construction/utility vehicles (A sorta gray area more-guideline-than-rule), and white is for civilian use.
The nice thing about video/image editing software is we can have the white lights running on the street then have them changed to blue in post. Although amber is reserved for company vehicles, I believe cops won't be as pissy about you using them if say on your way to a convention, you witness a car accident. You can switch to amber mode and assist in the accident. Sketchy, but most cops understand you're trying to help and NOT impersonate some kind of legal authority. That, and you'd be laughed out of the stationhouse for arresting 4 idiots in jumpsuits for using amber light bars for an actual appropriate situation.
The only good place for us to use said lights in blue mode would be private property: Parking lots, personal driveways, things of that sort. Get to the edge of or the other side of the location on private property, flip the colors to blue, and make your grand entrance.
Even if you check state laws, you need to check municipalities if you're legal. My buddy Jerry (Chicago Ecto-1) warned me never, _ever_ go though Arlington Heights even with blue domes on the vehicle. Even if they're off, that's breaking a law, because these people are paranoid dipshits. But, if you have clear domes, you're legal. He has that with blue bulbs. See? The dipshit thing is accurate.
I'm doing a similar thing with the Ecto-1A bars, but I'm using real Code 3 parts. I've built two bars out of like six parts bars. They're not as expensive as you'd think.
Jokes on the boring laws if evil ghost and spirits actually did exist in reality then they will be begging and regret telling 🚫👻 to be home.
Blue lights here in NJ designate a Volunteer responder in which you need a permit. Where as in other states blue is Police, varies by location. You can bag the lights while driving around ( they have a light bar out of service cover)
In New York State, blue lights are for volunteer firefighters on their way to a call. So you would have to be a volunteer fireman with a permit for using a blue light. Red lights are police and they’re usually a combination of red and blue lights. Yellow lights would be construction or hazard and no permit is required. I’m pretty sure if you don’t have the blue lights on in NY it would be legal.
Slap's side of car. LET'S RUN SOME RED LIGHTS!
"Good luck catching me on your bike, sir, when we're not stuck in football foot traffic."
Sound like "free donuts for cops", every time they stop you ...
While it was Illegal with that final cop story, that cop was kind of a douche. Like, he’s got no soul if he didn’t acknowledge that he was standing in front of Ecto-1. He did do the right thing, but c’mon.
cop was probably jealous too
@@Coastiestevie wouldn't you be? LOL
@@corycollier hell yeah, but I wouldn't be a douche about it
Knight Rider lights are also ilegal, unfortunately.
I just keep my car as factory as possible to keep police attention away as much as possible.
But good job on the Ghostbusters car, it It is a dream come true to have one
I didn't realise till recently, but Ecto 1A in Ghostbusters 2 has a mix of green lights, possibly to have it stand out more from the last car, but also so it's more legal to run. In the UK you definitely get quizzed for having blue lights, even if they don't work, and if they catch you with them on, you do get a fine, and are also told to remove the lights from the vehicle, or keep the vehicle on private land.
Yeah, I'm pretty choosey on when to run them. I recently put them on driving past a high school track meet. I don't think anyone's going to mistake me for an emergency vehicle.
I found a car from the 50s I don't even know what kind of car it is yet but it has wings in the back and I wanted to buy it and turn it into the Ecto-1! I completely understand how much it's gonna cost but I hope at some point my dream will come true, love your vids bro keep it up
You will need a '59 Cadillac sedan of some sort if you want to do a whole lotta work. The 4 doors share the same chassis and front half as the Miller Meteor.
Love the car, love the stories, and love watching your videos. Keep 'em comin. ^__^
If you're ever in Houston, lemme know and me and the guys will get you a steak and a bourbon or something.
Ha! You're awesome.
Love this video and all the advice. I'm one of the many looking to build an Ecto 1 here in the SF Bay area. I've always wondered about the legality of the lights; like wanting to show up outside the local police station and say, 'hey, can I ask you about my car?...'
Thanks!
There's an Ecto in the local Ghost Corps franchise here in south Florida, and
he has purple and green lights, so it's okay. 🤣
I'm sure each state or county has different laws involving the legality of the use of emergency vehicle lights.
California seems to have pretty strict laws on that: “No vehicle shall be equipped with any lamp or illuminating device not required or permitted in this code, nor shall any lamp or illuminating device be mounted inside a vehicle unless specifically permitted by this code....” There may be a way to get a permit or exception, but on its face, the law says it is illegal in California.
4x4 forum someone coming back from Moab got pulled over because he was volunteer fire for his small town and they made him cover up the lights even though they weren't on and he had paperwork showing he was volunteer. Absolutely nuts.
Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.
Hey, thanks for watching!
It is absolutely not illegal. As long as you do not turn them on. The most serious issue with blue lights on any car is impersonating a Police Officer.
And clearly, you are not doing that.
It is a movie prop. A stunt vehicle. A classic collectors item.
the Blue lights are legal on private land. you can turn them on at private property. just do not run them while the vehicle is moving.
3:55 yeah I know all about it my dad always says to avoid that area on game day because of the traffic.😂
There are products made for covering up lightbars, they are usually a black cover and sometimes will have white wording saying "Out of Service" or "Not in service", Alternatively some owners will either have a set of spare lenses or domes that they swap out for while on the road going to or from events, either regular clear or they may have painted them black.
Love your ecto :D We have one around here that my LFGS will call in for free comic book day with some other display vehicles.
Nice!
Athens use to be one of my regular delivery points when I was trucking. Hate I never ran across ya. ~From North AL
Here in the uk if you have or own a replica emergency vehicle or anything with blue lights on the roof we are meant to have them coved when on the roads, in the 10+ years of working with our Ecto not once have we had them hidden.
this should be one of those Tom Scott videos with 3M views
Show your friends!
When you drive around in the car you need to have the Ghostbusters song blasting
I do!
love that car and the sirens...
The legal aspect applies specifically to impersonating a police officer, there is no way anyone is going to think you are a police car, they will be too busy grinning too much. :)
It has more to do with appearing as an emergency vehicle: not necessarily whether you are pretending to be a cop. Actually impersonating a cop would entail you trying to convince others that you are a cop, specifically.
@@SpartacusColo100% fact, any cop that has the balls to cite or threaten you clearly ain't thinking of the future embarrassing repercussions of public retaliation and civil legality
@@JOHNSMITH-dc6lr Most state statutes declare that any flashing warning lights, other than standard headlights, turn lights, clearance lights, etc. be amber in color, and not much else. State of Colorado allows amber and white. If you run red or blue warning lights on your vehicle, then you are in violation. I know a guy who got ticketed for having one of those Knight Rider oscillating red lights on the front of his car running.
You can have the equipment on your vehicle (reds, blues, greens, etc.), you just can't be operating on a public road way with those lights running. It's mostly about appearing as an emergency vehicle.
@@SpartacusColo your absolutely correct, hopefully you didn't misread my statement, it's driving w them on public roads is completely another story
@@SpartacusColo seen someone couple weeks ago in Indiana popped cause they had the stupid red ring light around the headlights of the jeep they had. it got impounded. DOT cop got them.
Awesome Car man! Cool Stories too.
In the states, it varies by state. Here in Pennsylvania, blue lights can be used by volunteer EMS and Firefighters and I've known people who had them mounted to their cars. The advice was to cover them with garbage bags when traveling in nearby Ohio, as red was for volunteers and blue was reserved for police.
I love the videos about your Ecto-1!
this is going to vary so much from state to state. In Illinois blue, red, green, amber, and purple are all illegal unless certain things. Here volunteer firefighters can get blue lights. My recommendation is 1) get in good with local fire and police, 2) have a master kill switch for lights and siren that is keyed and not accessible while driving (they are not wired up, officer), 3) you can also see about "Not in Service" bags to go over the lights.
On another note, I also believe that tint would also be considered illegal here in Illinois on the front side windows.
"I forgive you." 😂
Get yourself a Feniex Typhoon siren controller. It comes with the Ecto siren as a standard siren sound. It sounds awesome, complete with the ramp up and ramp down effect when you turn it on and off. We have that controller on several of our response vehicles (though we normally use the typical yelp/wail patterns).
As for the lighting, it's only illegal if they are activated when you are on a public roadway. Off, or in a private parking lot. No problem!
You can buy custom snap-on blackout covers for the lights. Police dept. mechanics here cover the light bars when driving out-of-service units for test drives.
It would depend on the state. Here in NH if it's registered here, it has to be state inspected and blue lights can not be on a vehicle.
Everybody knows exactly what it is. And if they don't you're probably in a different kind of trouble. Like The Hills Have Eyes / Wrong Turn kind of trouble. Nothing But Trouble. To use a more Dan Aykroyd appropriate reference.
Ha. Nice one.
@16-BITFPV - They make a reference to Wrong Turn 4 on Ghostbusters Afterlife when they cheaply rip Ivo Shandor right in half down the middle.
@16-BITFPV - I could understand if you haven't seen Frozen Empire yet. Afterlife there is no excuse.
It depends upon the state and what color lights their law enforcement uses the actual Ghostbusters film was filmed in New York which uses red lights on all of their police cars and blue lights on volunteer firefighters personal vehicles so they were able to get away with it but like you said as long as you're not driving down the road with them on you shouldn't have any problems if you build a replica ecto-1 with working lights
Even with evil 👻?
Blue lights facing front is illegal in the state of New York, also why emergency vehicles use red white there
@@ApollonDriver when I was growing up in upstate New York volunteer firefighters ran blue lights on their personal vehicles I know this because I grew up in a fire department now unless they changed it in the 20 something years since I've lived in New York then that's the information I am going by
@@ApollonDriver Except for volunteer fire fighters. That is the only exception to that rule.
i think in some states it may be illegal to have the lights or if they dont work they are to be removed.
i know if you have the kc daylighter lights you know the ones you always see on top of trucks and are covered in some states they say they need to be disconnected or even removed.
you would need to check with your local laws.
it maybe possible to get an exemption for authentic replica movie cars.
i think when they film for movies they close off the streets but you still need to be careful so you dont crash into something.
Generally speaking as long as the car is not in motion and the lights are not on, you should be fine. Stationary and on private property, light em UP!
Epic!
I understand where your coming from. I have my old security uniform cover in Ghostbusters patches to cover up the stuff from the company I use to work for and people would come up to me often and want to talk about Ghostbusters and a couple time I had people act as if I really was a Ghostbuster they were so excited.
The colors of emergency lights vary from state to state. Some states PD use red, other states use blue
👻🚫 with 🔴🟣🟢 lights 🤔🤔🤔
"Ecto-1: Just keep my sirens off and lights off, human. ^-^ " Love to ol gal Ecto-1 ^-^
Depends where your at, different places use different color codes. Where I am from security vehicles use green and clear, tow trucks and cautionary vehicles use amber/yellow and we use red and clear lights on our personal vehicles for the volunteer fire department and local law enforcement uses blue or blue and red. If I cross over state lines to the north of me I have to cover my light bar because the cops use all red and fire department has blue. I got pulled over for impersonating a police officer. Most cops would or will leave you alone as long as your not using them while driving. I also had a friend on the department that had red and white headlight strobes but he used those super bright LEDs that had a blue tint to them and he got in trouble.
I just watched your ghostbuster movie.
It was awesome.
You guys need to do a Ghostbusters 2.
It's in the works.
In Illinois i was a volunteer FF. We were allowed to have BLUE LIGHTS on our car. Only have to be "paged" out on a fire call. You can go through a red light, need to slow down, and go through.
You missed a couple lights lol. It's all good, I still love it.
In Texas (as far as I know) it’s only illegal to activate them while on a public roadway. You can use them while on private property though.
It only counts if you turn them on, right? And if you have a retro police car like the kind from Andy Griffith they sell covers for the lights and door, right?
The ghost busters movie took place in new York where emergency vehicles lights are blue and police lights are red so that as why the ecto1 has blue lights
it might be different there, but went to our police dept, and they said as long as you dont flash em while driving, and that 25 yr old bike cop with the buzz cut, probably shouldnt be a cop
In California if you have a movie production company you can stencil both sides of the door with thevwords “ movie car “ and the cops will leave you alone they also will register cars with the local police department you might consider doing that where you live
I'm glad you found forgiveness in your heart. Your a good guy. I honestly would've been annoyed by him. Have fun with your hero car buddy and remember "Don't cross your streams"😮
i was filming a scene locally using old cars that was supposed to be set in California so we created paper licence plates to tape over the local ones. I asked a friend of mine who is a police officer if we could do that and she said "No, it's illegal, but do it anyway. We won't care".
Emergency light laws are different from state to state. I know that here in PA, its not illegal to have blue lights on your vehicle, but its illegal to use them if you are not a first responder. The exception to this is you can't put emergency lights on a police car look alike, period. I'm sure there is some kind of exception for novelty vehicles like yours. I believe you can run blue lights or any emergency lights for that matter as long as you are not on a public road.
The consensus usually is as long as you aren't running them. Most cops don't care.
I purchased an old NYPD cruiser that was screen used in "Third Watch" I drove it from NYC to Springfield Missouri without any problem.
Same with my 91 CHP Crown Vic that was an actual CHP slicktop. It was marked, had all the proper equipment, only the long guns were fake.
Again, I drove it home. No issue, except for a trooper whose dad drove the car when it was on duty in Needles. And wanted a picture of it.
-Excuse me sir
-Ho hi, what can I do for you?
-So... my friend is crawling on the ceiling and puking something that Im pretty sure its not pea soup.
Great history! Thanks for this video! I hope you have a lot of fun withi your Ecto-1 replica. :)
In my state. We've had troopers stop us for pictures with Ecto-1 plus they've had us prove to them our gear didn't really work
In NY, emergency vehicles can only have red lights as seen from the front, but are allowed to have red AND blue from the rear.
There are 2 things, depending on state, there are lightbar covers that obstructs lights 100% and thus considered "disabled". Also most states, it's the blue light that is all that's illegal if you were to change colours. You can have light bars fully legally in all states if you avoid blue mostly then also red for the others that consider that. White and amber are always safe to have. Best info I have from owning a police vehicle from KC Police cars.
I just don't want to put those light covers on it. It ruins the look, ya know?
@@unfinishedstudios yah, I know. Too bad not a LED light bar... but that would also ruin look. But you can switch out modules easier on LED
Mr. Bikecop was power tripping because he didnt have a Ecto 1.
Just awesome!!!
I’ve yet to have a problem with the police with the Mini-Ecto-1…Great story and thanks for the video history of your Ecto-1…
Thanks for watching!
All in all check local laws and mainly your state police office for the laws in your state. Some its legal as its all blue. Other states use blue so. Some require permits for special use lights during events. It varies.
Wow this is so cool. I wish I could see in person :)