Lighted phone or white T-shirt you life on a night road certainly will not save. Prepay prefer a proper reflective elements are ideal widest ribbons in bright colors. And among them there are wide variations – the ability to reflect light is among the best of them since the last sixty.
Formula 1 pilot takes about fifteen seconds before it manages to react to the unexpected stimulus. The average driver is four times slower. When he’s tired from work in the evening or upset by dense snowstorm, his reaction time is still significantly extended. Now imagine what happens if the driver in such conditions and arrangement meets the road “invisible” pedestrian.
For example, last year, died on the roads over 130 pedestrians, 60 percent of them were killed at night. Therefore, according to the amendment of the Highway Code applies from February to pedestrians must wear a so-called retro reflective material when they are moving on an unlit road outside the village at dusk, darkness, in heavy rain, snow or a tunnel.
Thus, if in reduced visibility can make your life depend on a plastic bracelet, which costs about the same as one black coffee bezince, it begs the question: Are they all equally good?
Therefore test MF DNES left together with the Road Safety tested 26 of reflective tape. They are bought at different places – in shops, post offices, petrol stations and in e-shops. Retro reflection measurements, the intensity with which strips reflect the light, took accredited laboratory Transport Research Centre.
Most of the visible bright yellow
At first glance, they look strips on both ends qualitative scale virtually the same – light green, plastic, retractable. “In fact, not the color of the tape, but the quantity and density of special glass materials, which ensures tape light reflection,” explains the principle of leading BESIP Martin pastor. But it outside layman hardly knows.
The first advice on how to pick the right one for reflective tape, so by Priest reads: “Inquire about whether the tape meets the standard.” However, as the test showed the quality of retro reflectivity not necessarily directly related to the quality of the reported information. Therefore pastor advised to consider the color.
“Best-color neon yellow, which is the most visible, and red or green,” says chief SCUBA. Although red reflective elements meets the technical standard, well it is better to choose the lightest shade – which also confirm the test results. In the first half of the standings did not score any red or even orange ribbon, but the last-eight of them have a color just five.
“The ideal is white, and silver, which is not, applied any color that could dampen reflections. The color was partially absorbs the light that falls on it, so the darker the tape will be, the less light, “explains the consequences of the physical laws of Luke technology company 3M, which specializes in the development and production of reflective materials.