reinventing HI-VIS !

Some more brainstorming from today.

Working on a new idea- brainstorming the basics.

I'm not certain, but this might not be the safest way to conduct my photographic research.... I'd sit the other way round!

— socialq

Hi-Vis; Is it the only answer to road safety for cyclists? Is it exclusive to these sub-motoring groups or is it possible to apply this to motorists in general?

Only one item of Hi-Vis apparel has been proven to give the rider more respect, room and time on the road by other motorists, so therefore I must use this one, the POLITE Hi-Vis waistcoat as seen above.

To monitor how these reflective strips affect the car whilst driving, I collaborated with Tiago, featured in the photo on the left, who is an avid motorcyclist. He would follow me in my car filming from a motorcycles perspective. It is obviously extremely hard to gain insight from other motorists, as we would have had to stop the surrounding motorists and ask what they thought, so not exactly easy. This test however is ideal for illustrating the benefits of being seen at night, and how the Hi-Vis tape looks on a vehicle in these conditions.

WITH LIGHT...

WITHOUT LIGHT...

FINISHED. So after more time than I had ever imagined it would have taken to put tape on a car, it's finished. the photograph on the left is taken without flash, even in the presence of a large amount of ambient light, the car remains dull and doesn't stand out from its background. The photo on the right however, stands out very clearly from its background. This second photograph uses flash and mimics the effect of car headlights on the reflective strips. From now till I remove the tape, a period of hopefully not much longer than 4 weeks, I will monitor and record the attitude towards me in this vehicle with the reflectives in comparison to without.

MORE TAPE APPLIED!

Paramedic interview.

In order to get the correct dimensions of reflective tape, and to save around £25 in the process, I had to measure and cut the tape down. This took an incredibly long time!

THE TAPE ARRIVED. After ordering over 40m of reflective silver tape, I started the project/test rolling. Here you can see that there are two thicknesses of tape, 20mm wide (as it was supplied) and 10mm (I spent a large proportion of my life measuring and cutting the width down). I used the wider tape to highlight any significant points on the vehicle, i.e the edge of the bonnet, bump strips and bumpers. This is to emphasise the key contact points on the vehicle making the extremities of the car more visible and hopefully avoidable! The thinner tape is used to highlight any split line on the car, to 'map' out the contours of the vehicle, making the whole vehicle visible even at night. The photo on the left is under normal indoor lighting, the photo on the right is taken with flash and clearly highlights the reflective tape and number plate. Just to make it clear, I definitely would not be doing this to my car if I did not value the insights it may lead to, as I think it looks beyond strange. -It looks strange, but will this make more people look at it? -If more people look at it, will more people notice it? -If more people notice it, will less people crash into it? I hope to find out!

The Subject Vehicle.

This is my 2004 Vauxhall Corsa C (in immaculate condition) that I aim to transform with reflective tape so to improve its night presence and visibility. I then aim to remove the tape without ruining the paintwork, if at all possible.

This car, as an unfortunate coincidence is renowned for having very poor rear visibility, hence many crashes occur with vehicles running into the back of these corsas. This is mainly due to the positioning of the rear lights, yet could also be to do with the ‘smokey’ effect of the original rear light cluster. Because of this poor visibility, this car is actually a brilliant example of a car that requires more visibility at night.

AND SO THE EXPERIMENT STARTS.

Although the Coca-Cola Lorry level of visibility is overkill, would you be able to miss this on the motorway? Surely not! More and more larger HGV's and lorries are utilizing reflective tape to avoid accidents and potential collisions. The above example shows how the outline of the vehicle can be created to warn other road users of its hazardously large dimensions. Could this help other vehicles?

This Vehicle Transforms At Night! Because this tape is reflective, it dramatically improves the visibility of the car in low light conditions, bad weather and at night. Although its not to everyones taste, this vehicle was modified as an aesthetically derived project, but has this overlooked the huge possibility to improve vehicles presence at night, including motorcycles? and cycles?

This is an rare example of an emerging detailing automotive scene. This car has been 'traced' along every split line with adhesive decals, this red tape serves as a decorative addition to the vehicle within this specialised niche. How is this relevant to rider safety? - 80 of all motorcycle accidents involve other vehicles. -Making other road users more visible would improve road safety on the whole.