Be Seen With 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a pedestrian was killed in a traffic crash every 113 minutes and one was injured in a traffic crash every eight minutes in 2007. Today, as busy schedules force fitness enthusiasts to take to the outdoors for training at dusk or dawn when lighting and visibility are low, it’s essential for them to remember four simple words – no white at night.

While it seems logical that wearing a white T-shirt when training in low-light conditions makes you more visible to oncoming drivers, the fact is, just because you see them, doesn’t mean they see you. 3M, a global leader in innovative visibility research and optical science, is encouraging outdoor enthusiasts to switch their white T-shirts for workout gear featuring reflective material to enhance their visibility.

Why is it important to wear reflective material when training in low-light conditions?

• Drivers moving at just 30 mph could travel a distance over 500 feet before they are able to properly maneuver their cars in response to an obstacle; yet a pedestrian wearing a white shirt may not be visible to drivers until they are within 300 feet* of the car. Active apparel designs featuring optimal amounts and placement of 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material help to increase the distance at which a driver may detect a pedestrian.

How does 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material work?

• 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material uses retroflection technology. This means it is specifically designed to return light directly back to its original source. Think about cat’s eyes or a deer’s eyes in headlights shining in the night. 3M products feature retroreflection through the use of glass bead and prismatic technologies.

What is the best active apparel to wear and why?

• Active wear meeting 360° Enhanced Visibility requirements helps offer increased visibility to the runner or biker, because it requires specific amounts of 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material be visible from all angles – front, back and sideways. The 360° enhanced visibility program was created to enhance consumers’ visibility at night.

What is the science behind 3M’s products and offerings?

• As a leader in visibility research and optics, 3M uses technology that maximizes product effectiveness and performance. 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material, when placed in specific amounts and on certain areas of apparel, helps allow the peripheral vision to pick up a wearer sooner, so drivers may identify and avoid pedestrians in the road. This may help drivers to detect the human form more quickly in the dark.

How can consumers find products that meet 360° Enhanced Visibility requirements?

• A 360° Enhanced Visibility hang tag on apparel and footwear that meets the design requirements marks active wear fully integrated with 3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material for enhanced nighttime conspicuity.

*Source: National Safety Council, Walk Alert National Pedestrian Safety Program, FHWA RD 89-022, 1989 Program Guide (NSD, 1989)

3MColleen Harris, 651-733-1566Cahornharris1@mmm.comorCohn & Wolfe for 3MBrandan Orsatti, 212-798-9724Brandan.Orsatti@cohnwolfe.com