It’s a sad day for all the “Euro Yellow RAL 1016” fans out there, and I’m sure there are many of you amongst the readership.
The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), which provides coverage from the Scottish border, through Newcastle, and down to Middlesbrough, intends to retire the colour in favour of base-model white.
The service operates around 600 vehicles, of which 200 are your classic emergency service ambulances affected by this change.
NEAS certainly keeps those vehicles busy, providing ambulance coverage for 2.7 million people, and responding to approximately 400,000 emergency incidents last year.
They are planning a staggered roll-out of the new colour, having bought 75 new emergency ambulances this year, with intentions to replace the remaining vehicles as required.
In their press release, NEAS provide two key reasons for this decision. Not painting the ambulances saves the service £1,000 per vehicle, and allows each unit to be delivered two months sooner.
"Not painting the ambulances saves the service £1,000 per vehicle, and allows each unit to be delivered two months sooner."
You might reasonably assume that the highly visible Euro Yellow RAL 1016 was chosen for safety, and that the roads will become more dangerous for the sake of cost-savings.
However, NEAS also addresses this in their press statement, citing that there is “no evidence that either colour is more or less visible or more likely to be involved in an accident.”
Further, these new ambulances will still bear the legally mandated high-vis decals that make them so visible in low-light conditions.
It is correct that the original decision to make ambulances yellow was because it is the most conspicuous colour to the human eye. But this original change isn’t as old as you may think, with British ambulances first turning yellow as recently as 2002.
They were changed as part of an EU alignment driven by a decision from the European Committee for Standardisation, an organisation that’s responsible for many minute, but highly visible changes to everyday life, including the colour of fire extinguishers and the addition of the little green running man on fire exit signs.
Their recommendations harmonised the colour of European ambulances. Worldwide, however, white remains the traditional and more widely adopted colour, including in Scotland.
"NEAS remains the first service to make this reversion in England..."
NEAS remains the first service to make this reversion in England, and it remains to be seen what the rest of the country will do.
While this is a small change, it is one that will impact our daily experience. The university, so close to the RVI, constantly has ambulances going to and fro. From March, this artefact of everyday life won’t look the same.
Though niche, this change demonstrates how high-level standardisation subtly shapes our everyday world. So, next time you hear those sirens, see if you can spot one of those new white ambulances. And if you do, take a second to spare a thought for Euro Yellow RAL 1016.