The Federal Emergency Management Agency through the United States Fire Administration, and with the Department of Transportation Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office have initiated a partnership with the Society of Automotive Engineers to research how to mitigate the disorientation of motorists caused by the day and nighttime use of emergency warning lights.

The research will include the effects of emergency lighting on normal, impaired and drowsy drivers (also known as the "moth effect"). All emergency lighting systems will be examined as part of this effort, including incandescent, halogen, strobe and light-emitting diode systems.

Research findings from this project may be forwarded to national-level consensus standards organizations such as the National Fire Protection Association and others involved in the development of relevant/related standards. The Society of Automotive Engineers and its Emergency Warning Lighting and Devices Standards Committee may also use the findings in the development of its own standards.