A safety reflector is a retroreflector intended for pedestrians, runners, motorized and non-motorized vehicles. A safety reflector is similar to reflective stripes that can be found on safety vests and clothing worn by road workers and rescue workers. They are sometimes erroneously called luminous badges or luminous tags, but this is incorrect as they do not themselves produce light, but only reflect it.
A safety reflector aids visibility of a person or vehicle visible to on the road, as it reflects light from headlights of vehicles. Safety reflectors are especially useful where there are no streetlights.
Unlike reflective stripes that are permanently fixed to clothing, the safety reflector is a stand-alone device that can be attached to any article of clothing as needed, often using a safety pin and some string. For vehicles, the reflector is usually a fixed part. In bicycles, reflectors are usually on wheels, pedals, under the seat, on the back of the luggage rack, and in front of the front fork. In motorcycles, automobiles, and other vehicles, reflectors are built into the front and rear ends (and sides) next to the headlights and brake lights. [1]
Fatal traffic accidents at night often involve vehicles with drivers who fail to see pedestrians or bicyclists until they are too close to avoid collision. [2] Reflectors are expected to increase visibility and contribute to safety.
The reflector was first invented in 1917 in Nice by Henri Chrétien [3] to provide the army a communication system the enemy could not intercept. Patent is labelled cataphote in 1923. [4]
The cataphote was also invented by Garbarini by combining a convex lens and concave mirror. It was used for aviation, safety in Switzerland and advertising in France. [5]
On 12 March 1925, the minister, the Réseau du Nord railway company and the Touring-Club de France experienced the use of cataphotes to make level crossings visible by night. [6]
In 1926, an automobile club, the Touring-Club de France, offered 180 signals with triangular cataphote to warn for the presence of the level crossings. [7] In 1927, fines were given in France to car owners which did not have the cataphote made mandatory by law. The same year, cataphote were sold for motorized vehicles, motorbikes, bicycles and any kind of trailers. [8]
In 1946, French regulation for catadioptre was NF R 143 11. [9]
On first January 1950, safety catadioptre were made mandatory on the rear side of French vehicles. [10]
In January 1943, a US highway patrolman Raymond Trask proposed the concept of the single cataphote for pedestrians to help them be visible for drivers in a Popular Science publication. [11] [12]
In the late 1950s, Mr. Arvi Lehti a farmer and plastic manufacturer from Pertteli, Finland came up with the idea of a reflector suitable for pedestrian use. His initial idea was to join a pair of automotive reflectors together and attach them to clothing. This early concept was developed further by Arvi's company Talousmuovi into a small, light-weight reflector fit for commercial sale. In the 1960s The Finnish police and transport authority wanted a reflector to improve pedestrian safety, they asked Talousmuovi to design one. The reflectors they created were eventually made for sale to Finns and later the world. [13] [14]
Nowadays one can find reflectors of all possible shapes and colours, as design and fashion industries have turned their faces towards this diminutive gadget. Special 'clip-on' reflectors for bicycles and other human-powered vehicles are also common.
Within the European Union, safety reflectors for pedestrians must be certified to comply with the EN 17353:2020 safety standard which is an amalgamation of the prior certifiable EN 1150:1999 and EN 13356:2001 standards. This standard is specifically for "loose, reflective clothing and accessories for non-professional use". There are other standards for other types of reflectors such as professional safety vests and reflectors on bicycles or automobiles.
In Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, pedestrians are required by law to wear safety reflectors when walking during dark conditions. [15]
The EU use Unece regulation number 3 to categorize safety reflectors in several class: IA, IB, IIIA, IIIB and IVA.
The EU use Unece regulation 104 for retro-reflective markings for vehicles of category M2 and M3 (transport of people), N (transport of good), O2, O3 and O4 (trailers). This regulation use colored markings.
The EU also has in its law the Council Directive 76/757/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to reflex reflectors for motor vehicles and their trailers.
A bicycle reflector or prism reflector is a common safety device found on the rear, front and wheels of bicycles. It uses the principle of retroreflection to alert another road user of the bicycle's presence on the road.
The reflector is usually manufactured in the form of a moulded tile of transparent plastic. The outside surface is smooth, allowing light, such as from a car's headlights, to enter. The rear surface of the tile takes the form of an array of angled micro-prisms or spherical beads.
The light striking the rear, inside surface of the prisms or beads, does so at an angle greater than the critical angle thus it undergoes total internal reflection. Due to the orientation of the other inside surfaces, any light internally reflecting is directed back out the front of the reflector in the direction it came from. This alerts the person close to the light source, e.g. the driver of the vehicle, to the presence of the cyclist. [16]
A corner reflector is a retroreflector consisting of three mutually perpendicular, intersecting flat surfaces, which reflects waves directly towards the source, but translated. The three intersecting surfaces often have square shapes. Radar corner reflectors made of metal are used to reflect radio waves from radar sets. Optical corner reflectors, called corner cubes or cube corners, made of three-sided glass prisms, are used in surveying and laser ranging.
A moped is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. Historically, the term exclusively meant a similar vehicle with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typically travel only slightly faster than bicycles on public roads.
A retroreflector is a device or surface that reflects radiation back to its source with minimum scattering. This works at a wide range of angle of incidence, unlike a planar mirror, which does this only if the mirror is exactly perpendicular to the wave front, having a zero angle of incidence. Being directed, the retroflector's reflection is brighter than that of a diffuse reflector. Corner reflectors and cat's eye reflectors are the most used kinds.
High-visibility clothing, sometimes shortened to hi vis or hi viz, is any clothing worn that is highly luminescent in its natural matt property or a color that is easily discernible from any background. It is most commonly worn on the torso and arm area of the body. Health and safety regulations often require the use of high visibility clothing as it is a form of personal protective equipment. Many colors of high visibility vests are available, with yellow and orange being the most common examples. Colors other than yellow or orange may not provide adequate luminescence for conformity to standards such as ISO 20471.
A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, headlamp is the term for the device itself and headlight is the term for the beam of light produced and distributed by the device.
Bicycle lighting is illumination attached to bicycles whose purpose above all is, along with reflectors, to improve the visibility of the bicycle and its rider to other road users under circumstances of poor ambient illumination. A secondary purpose is to illuminate reflective materials such as cat's eyes and traffic signs. A third purpose may be to illuminate the roadway so that the rider can see the way ahead. Serving the latter purposes require much more luminous flux and thus more power.
Bicycle law in California is the parts of the California Vehicle Code that set out the law for persons cycling in California, and a subset of bicycle law in the United States. In general, pretty much all the same rights and responsibilities that apply to car drivers apply to bicycle riders as well.
A raised pavement marker is a safety device used on roads. These devices are usually made with plastic, ceramic, thermoplastic paint, glass or occasionally metal, and come in a variety of shapes and colors. Raised reflective markers, such as plastic, ceramic, or metal ones, include a lens or sheeting that enhances their visibility by retroreflecting automotive headlights, while glass road studs gather automotive headlights with a dome shape and reflect the lights with a reflective layer within. Some other names for specific types of raised pavement markers include convex vibration lines, Botts' dots, delineators, cat's eyes, road studs, or road turtles. Sometimes they are simply referred to as "reflectors".
A rear-view mirror is a, usually flat, mirror in automobiles and other vehicles, designed to allow the driver to see rearward through the vehicle's rear window.
A daytime running lamp is an automotive lighting and bicycle lighting device on the front of a road going motor vehicle or bicycle, automatically switched on when the vehicle's handbrake has been pulled down, when the vehicle is in gear, or when the engine is started, emitting white, yellow, or amber light. Their intended use is not to help the driver see the road or their surroundings, but to help other road users identify an active vehicle.
A motor vehicle has lighting and signaling devices mounted to or integrated into its front, rear, sides, and, in some cases, top. Various devices have the dual function of illuminating the road ahead for the driver, and making the vehicle visible to others, with indications to them of turning, slowing or stopping, etc., with lights also indicating the size of some large vehicles.
A motorized bicycle is a bicycle with an attached motor or engine and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedalling. Since it sometimes retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propulsion, the motorized bicycle is in technical terms a true bicycle, albeit a power-assisted one. Typically they are incapable of speeds above 52 km/h (32 mph), however in recent years larger motors have been built, allowing bikes to reach speeds of upwards of 72 km/h.
Bicycle safety is the use of road traffic safety practices to reduce risk associated with cycling. Risk can be defined as the number of incidents occurring for a given amount of cycling. Some of this subject matter is hotly debated: for example, which types of cycling environment or cycling infrastructure is safest for cyclists. The merits of obeying the traffic laws and using bicycle lighting at night are less controversial. Wearing a bicycle helmet may reduce the chance of head injury in the event of a crash.
A motorized scooter is a stand-up scooter powered by either a small internal combustion engine or electric hub motor in its front and/or rear wheel. Classified as a form of micromobility, they are generally designed with a large center deck on which the rider stands. The first motorized scooter was manufactured by Autoped in 1915.
A side-view mirror, also known as a door mirror and often called a wing mirror, is a mirror placed on the exterior of motor vehicles for the purposes of helping the driver see areas behind and to the sides of the vehicle, outside the driver's peripheral vision.
Retroglo is a reflective yarn designed to increase nighttime safety. It is made of 3M Scotchlite Reflective Material and laminated to a polyester film for added strength. Retroglo is used for a wide variety of applications including high-visibility clothing for joggers, walkers, bicycle riders, and highway workers.
The use of horses for transportation, either by horseback riding or by driving carriages and wagons on roads, was the primary form of transportation before the advent of automobiles in the late 19th century. However, horses are still used for transport in many parts of the world, including places where certain sects such as the Amish reside. Horses are also ridden on the roads for pleasure, for example travelling from their stables to bridle paths and trails. Equestrians and motorists should take safety precautions to avoid serious accidents when sharing the roadways.
In the United Kingdom, lighting-up time is a legally-enforced period from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise, during which all motor vehicles on unlit public roads must use their headlights.
A slow moving vehicle is a vehicle or caravan of vehicles operated on a street or highway at speeds slower than that of other motorized traffic.
Busch & Müller KG is a company based in Meinerzhagen, Germany, that manufactures bicycle accessories, in particular lighting systems, and holds numerous patents as an inventor.
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