I’ve always thought that siren was the correct term for both the flashing lights and the speaker on top of a cop car, but my belief has been challenged. If both are not sirens, what are the proper terms?
Sua
Sirens are the things that go “Wooooo-wooooo” really loud. Lights are lights.
…and in the UK and Australia the cops call them “Blues & Twos”
Blue Flashing Light
Two tone siren
I call them a whole lot more when I see them in the rear vision mirror:)
And the headlights which flash alternately are called "wig-wag"s.
You’ll often see lights without a siren going, but I’ve never seen nor heard of an emergency vehicle running a siren without lights, except for amusing little kids or scaring scumbags to see what they do. So when I hear “he had his siren on”, I think of the whole shmeal. Rollers and Moaners, Flashing and Smashing, Litten’ and Splitten.
You will often hear the light arrays referred to as a “lightbar”
Turbo, and when your late for a hot date due to call volume you return back to station with “All the dash without the flash”
That’s a new one for me. Nice!!!