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New reflective road signs
I’ve seen a lot of these new road signs using, diamond grade reflective, going up in our area.
Have you driven towards them at night, they can really blind you especially if there is a few of them.This got me to thinking about the vehicle marking directives that are coming in about only using white on the front and red on the back of vehicle as the new diamond grade vinyls are classed as a light source.
So does that make these road signs illegal, they blind you using your own lights and I don’t think it’ll be long before someone claims they couldn’t tell the difference between the signs and the oncoming traffic.
Or am I just getting older and need new glasses 😎
Steve
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10 Replies
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Stephen, I dont think the reflective is any more reflective that it has been for years, its just that when they are new, without a layer of traffic film, they do shine more for a few months. I could be wrong though 😕
Peter
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I’m with you Steve.
If you have a decent set of headlights they can blind you.
They certainly make the wording difficult to read, thus destroying the whole point of them.
And I’ve already got new glasses. 😀
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We noticed that when the sun shines at a certain angle (near sunset) the reflectives give out some pretty colours…………. (rainbow)
Or do I need to stay off the *hair*
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I think you’ll find the rainbow effect is coming from microprismatic materials. There was a new British Standard introduced recently which covers these "new" type of reflective materials. I haven’t looked at the new specs, but I know the old standards had a maximum cd.lux/m2 for class 1 (new class ref 2) materials. Personally I think that the apparently brighter reflectives is partly due to newer cars having brighter headlights which in turn means the signs reflect more light to the drivers.
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I thought about the new V old signs pete and I’m still sure they are brighter but I could be wrong, I often am 🙂
They do make nice rainbow effects don’t they John.
Anyway I’ve emailed the cumbria highways department asking them what guidelines they have regarding using the white as a background.I think these signs are brighter because of both the diamond grade reflective and car head lights being adjusted higher, the mot requires the lights to be adjusted within limits were as before they could have been lower.
I don’t think car lights are brighter as my car has the same bulbs as I’ve always used in all my cars, H4 55/60W but my eye sight is worse and I do have glasses for driving at night to try and cut down the glare from oncoming vehicles so maybe it’s me just getting old and grumpy :lol1:
Steve
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Steve,
You’re right, the MOT test does specifiy the aim of headlights. It used to be a minimum of half a degree down when I was testing, but I don’t think it has changed.
Problem One is that headlights have a kick-up to the nearside which illuminates the signs.
Problem Two is that, unless you are a city dweller, you view most signs on full beam and get the full benefit.
Also, headlights have got better. The output of the bulbs may be the same but reflector and lens technology have improved out of all recognition since my youth. Having said that, manufacturers can still get it horribly wrong sometimes. A Vauxhall Omega I used to own had four 55/60 watts in it and I could hardly see so I swapped them for 100/90s. It made no difference to visibility and all that happened was that I melted the plastic lenses and had to buy new ones. They were generating more heat than light.
I’m definately grumpy. 👿
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lots of new cars now have HID XENON headlamp 3x brighter then the
H4 lamps. -
quote John Childs:……. A Vauxhall Omega I used to own had four 55/60 watts in it and I could hardly see so I swapped them for 100/90s. It made no difference to visibility and all that happened was that I melted the plastic lenses and had to buy new ones. They were generating more heat than light.I’m definately grumpy. 👿
I sympathise – I still drive one of those!! The reflectors are useless on the ‘standard’ lamps, and not much better in the ‘projector’ style. Only real HID lamps are any good.
The upshot is that you can retrofit them (not those dumb ‘HID look’ blue bulbs) if you’ve got the right ‘extras’. I can now see where I’m going…and no, it doesn’t dazzle anybody if it’s done right.
Best thing I ever bought for my miggy!Back to the original topic, I have noticed that new signs are definately more reflective than old ones – not just road grime, but a major improvement in reflectivity….a PITA for drivers as they really screw up your night vision…I suppose that having whiter, crisper headlights sort of amplifies the effect.
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The Xenon headlights have to have a self leveling device by law to be used in cars in the uk I see this when I switch on my headlights at night.
The self leveling references a zero on a sensor and the lights level themselves to this zero every time you switch them on as apparently these light can really dazzle at night.More useless information minds full of it.
Goop
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quote Forbie:The Xenon headlights have to have a self leveling device by law to be used in cars in the uk I see this when I switch on my headlights at night.
The self leveling references a zero on a sensor and the lights level themselves to this zero every time you switch them on as apparently these light can really dazzle at night.More useless information minds full of it.
Goop
Yup, there are little self levelling servos in the headlights. And HID’s must also have high pressure washers fitted.
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