Reflective for Night

Reflective materials work at night by bouncing back the light from a source.

To work properly it needs to be dark and there must be a light source such as car headlights.

Light can also be reflected by white or pale objects such as a newspaper or white carrier bag; these will reflect light but scatter it in all directions so a driver will see some brightness.

However, special reflective materials work much better. They are called ‘retro-reflective’; this means they are designed to bounce most of the light back to its source instead of scattering it, so the driver can see them much brighter. This can help drivers to see you three seconds sooner - which could save your life.

Many People Don’t Realise it but...

Reflective material on your clothing will not reliably help you to be seen in daytime (unless it is also fluorescent)! Although reflective tape can sometimes catch the sunlight and shine a bit, it doesn’t show up properly to drivers until it is dark. Try our Bright Tube experiments to see for yourself.