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The Science of Reflective Traffic Signs

The science of reflective traffic signs is based on materials that allow signs to reflect back the light from drivers’ headlights in order to improve readability. This technology has been around since the 1930s and has saved many lives, as it creates better visibility at night. Here’s a deeper look at the science and evolution of reflective traffic signs.

Evolution of Reflective Signs

The history of reflective traffic signs began with inventor Harry Heltzer, who worked for 3M, which manufactures various types of adhesive materials for multiple industrial and commercial applications. He served as the corporation’s Chairman and CEO from 1970 to 1975, after serving as VP since 1961. The reflective sign became one of 3M’s most profitable products, according to the New York Times at the time of Heltzer’s death in 2005.

Heltzer helped develop Scotch-Lite, which is the glass bead coating used on road signs and highway paints to project illumination. He is considered the “father of reflective materials.” During his tenure at 3M, earnings rose sharply as the company expanded to serve over 150 countries.

In 1937 as a 3M laborer, Heltzer was assigned to make the center striping on Minneapolis highways more reflective at night. At the time white or yellow paint was the standard and did not provide enough reflectivity.

After a highway official suggested that he embed glass beads into the stripe, his mission was to create glass beads small enough to fit within striping. He used double-coated tape with beads on one side, although at first, he couldn’t figure out how to make it stick to Minnesota streets in the winter. Later he developed a glass-bead reflective compound that proved effective for highway striping. Heltzer ultimately earned six patents for reflective highway inventions.

Modern Improvements

Early retroreflective material was degraded by dirt. However, this issue was resolved with an economical enclosed lens system that has come to be known as engineering grade sheeting.

In the late 1960s, the invention of encapsulated lens sheeting added a resin base and additional reflective coating. This development marked a much brighter and longer-lasting effect than engineering grade sheeting. It’s now the most widespread type of reflective material used for signage. In 1989 an even brighter and more durable but more expensive solution emerged that replaced glass beads with thousands of microscopic prismatic reflectors per square millimeter.

The reason aluminum is a popular choice for traffic signs is that it doesn’t rust and can last many years. Steel coated with zinc is a more economical solution and has the same durable qualities. An even more affordable solution is a plywood blank covered with a layer of plastic, but this material does not last as long as metals.

Retroreflectivity vs Mirrors

Although it seems quite similar, retroreflectivity does not have the same effect as mirrors. With glass beads on or under the transparent film, retroreflection allows a surface to return part of its light to the original source. While the sun scatters light in all directions allowing it to bounce off objects, mirrors cause light to bounce and reflect off surfaces at angles opposite of the sources. What makes retroreflective material different is that it allows light to bend and return directly toward the light source.

Retroreflective sheets are typically cut by hand, although a band saw is often used to cut multiple sheets. The sheets have adhesive backing making them easy to apply to a clean, dry surface.

Conclusion

Consider making your signs more illuminated at night with retroreflective sheeting. For more information about reflective traffic signs, contact WEALLIGHT to know more details. Our email: [email protected]; WhatsApp/Skype: +86 18659739121

Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduced, for example, the fingerposts in the United Kingdom and their wooden counterparts in Saxony.

Traffic Sign in London

With traffic volumes increasing since the 1930s, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to overcome language barriers, and enhance traffic safety. Such pictorial signs use symbols (often silhouettes) in place of words and are usually based on international protocols. Such signs were first developed in Europe, and have been adopted by most countries to varying degrees.

History

The earliest road signs were milestones, giving distance or direction; for example, the Romans erected stone columns throughout their empire giving the distance to Rome. According to Strabo, Mauryas erected signboards at a distance of 10 states to mark their roads. In the Middle Ages, multidirectional signs at intersections became common, giving directions to cities and towns.

In 1686, the first known Traffic Regulation Act in Europe is established by King Peter II of Portugal. This act foresees the placement of priority signs in the narrowest streets of Lisbon, stating which traffic should back up to give way. One of these signs still exists at Salvador street, in the neighborhood of Alfama.

The first modern road signs erected on a wide scale were designed for riders of high or “ordinary” bicycles in the late 1870s and early 1880s. These machines were fast, silent and their nature made them difficult to control, moreover their riders traveled considerable distances and often preferred to tour on unfamiliar roads. For such riders, cycling organizations began to erect signs that warned of potential hazards ahead (particularly steep hills), rather than merely giving distance or directions to places, thereby contributing the sign type that defines “modern” traffic signs.

The development of automobiles encouraged more complex signage systems using more than just text-based notices. One of the first modern-day road sign systems was devised by the Italian Touring Club in 1895. By 1900, a Congress of the International League of Touring Organizations in Paris was considering proposals for standardization of road signage. In 1903 the British government introduced four “national” signs based on shape, but the basic patterns of most traffic signs were set at the 1908 International Road Congress in Paris.[citation needed] In 1909, nine European governments agreed on the use of four pictorial symbols, indicating “bump”, “curve”, “intersection”, and “grade-level railroad crossing”. The intensive work on international road signs that took place between 1926 and 1949 eventually led to the development of the European road sign system. Both Britain and the United States developed their own road signage systems, both of which were adopted or modified by many other nations in their respective spheres of influence. The UK adopted a version of the European road signs in 1964 and, over past decades, North American signage began using some symbols and graphics mixed in with English.

In the U.S., the first road signs were erected by the American Automobile Association (AAA). Starting in 1906, regional AAA clubs began paying for and installing wooden signs to help motorists find their way. In 1914, AAA started a cohesive transcontinental signage project, installing more than 4,000 signs in one stretch between Los Angeles and Kansas City alone.

Over the years, change was gradual. Pre-industrial signs were stone or wood, but with the development of Darby’s method of smelting iron using coke, painted cast iron became favored in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Cast iron continued to be used until the mid-20th century, but it was gradually displaced by aluminum or other materials and processes, such as vitreous enameled and/or pressed malleable iron, or (later) steel. Since 1945 most signs have been made from sheet aluminum with adhesive plastic coatings; these are normally retroreflective for nighttime and low-light visibility. Before the development of reflective plastics, reflectivity was provided by glass reflectors set into the lettering and symbols.

New generations of traffic signs based on electronic displays can also change their text (or, in some countries, symbols) to provide for “intelligent control” linked to automated traffic sensors or remote manual input. In over 20 countries, real-time Traffic Message Channel incident warnings are conveyed directly to vehicle navigation systems using inaudible signals carried via FM radio, 3G cellular data, and satellite broadcasts. Finally, cars can pay tolls and trucks pass safety screening checks using video numberplate scanning, or RFID transponders in windshields linked to antennae over the road, in support of onboard signaling, toll collection, and travel time monitoring.

Yet another “medium” for transferring information ordinarily associated with visible signs is RIAS (Remote Infrared Audible Signage), e.g., “talking signs” for print-handicapped (including blind/low-vision/illiterate) people. These are infra-red transmitters serving the same purpose as the usual graphic signs when received by an appropriate device such as a hand-held receiver or one built into a cell phone.

What are the meanings of the eight colors used for traffic signs: Red, Yellow, White, Orange, Black, Green, Blue, Brown?

• Red → Stop, Yield, or Prohibited.
• Yellow → Warning.
• White → Regulatory.
• Orange → Construction or Detour.
• Black → Regulatory.
• Green → Guide.
• Blue → Motorist Services.
• Brown → Public Recreation.

What are the meanings of the eight shapes of signs: octagon, triangle, vertical rectangle, pentagon, round, pennant, diamond, horizontal rectangle?

• Octagon → Stop.
• Triangle → Yield.
• Vertical Rectangle → Regulatory.
• Pentagon → School.
• Round → Railroad Crossing.
• Pennant → No Passing.
• Diamond → Warning.
• Horizontal Rectangle → Guide.

What actions should you take at a STOP, YIELD, and speed limit signs?

• At a STOP sign, come to a complete stop and yield the right of way to pedestrians and vehicles.
• At a YIELD sign, slow or stop and give the right of way to cross traffic.
• Speed limit signs indicate the safe maximum or minimum speed.

Warning signs might be used to indicate any number of hazards; no passing zones, railroad crossings, school zones, sharp curves, intersections ahead, or animal crossings.

Guide signs point out routes, intersections, services, and points of interest. International signs use symbols rather than words.