WEARING WHITE NOT ENOUGH
Pedestrians walking along a road in dark clothing at night are first seen approximately 55 ft. away giving the driver less than one second reaction time. A driver travelling at 60 MPH needs over 260 feet to stop. This chart represents the distance a driver will first see a pedestrian depending on the color of their clothing. |
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Distance first seen
Clothing Color
Danger Zone | 55ft. 80ft. 120ft 180ft
Blue Red Yellow White | 260ft
needed to stop
travelling 60MPH | 500ft
wearing a
reflector |
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Nighttime pedestrian accidents and
deaths are America’s most preventable
tragedies. Over 66% occur in the dark,
and reflectors are the ONLY PROVEN METHOD of making pedestrians and
cyclists visible at distances sufficient
for the motorist to slow down or stop.
| Eight out of ten drivers who struck
people at night did not see them in time.
Indiana State Police Report | The chance of being hit by a motorist in the dark is eight times lower when
wearing a reflector.
Independent Scandinavian Study |
“A person dressed completely in black wearing a thumb sized reflector is
visible at greater distances than a person dressed completely in white.”
-AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
|
“In a survey of safety specialists, reflectorization countermeasures were
identified as having the highest overall
rating as a means for reducing school children accidents occurring during
darkness.”
U.S. Department of Transportation
| More children between the ages 5-14 die
as a result of being struck by a motor
vehicle than from any other cause,
natural or accidental.
National Safety Council | Nationwide, 15% of all traffic fatalities are pedestrians or cyclists, and
in large citiest they account for nearly
50% of all traffic fatalities.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration |
About 5,000 pedestrians and 1,000 cyclists are killed annually by motor
vehicles. 95,000 are injured.
Over 66% of accidents occur in the dark.
National Safety Council
|
71% of fatal adult pedestrian crashes occurred at dusk or dawn or in areas where
visibility of the person was restricted.
-AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety
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Once every 8 minutes a pedestrian is injured in a motor vehicle crash–Once
every 101 minutes a pedestrian is killed.
U.S. Department of Transportation
|
There are about 1,000 fatalities in work
zones around the country each year.
Federal Highway Administration.
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The use of reflectors has been shown to increase the visibility of
pedestrians by a factor of five.
Federal Highway Administration
|
A University of Michigan study concluded that retro-reflectors on wrists and ankles
increased pedestrian nighttime recognition distances to motorists by 60% to 80%.
University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute.
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