FOR SAFETY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 10 January 1931, Page 3

FOR SAFETY

VALUE OF LIGHT COLOURS WHITE IN HIGHEST FAVOUR Colour, from the standpoint of its' light reflecting qualities, has long been an important consideration where the safety of motoring is concerned. Traffic experts have advocated its use on everything from children to trucks, realising that colours which reflect the light may be seen from great distances at dusk or after darkness as well as in the daytime. The safety division of the American Automobile Association recently pointed out that a child in a brightcoloured outfit could be seen at a greater distance than one in sombre attire. Therefore, although children should be taught to stay out of the streets except when crossing them cautiously, the cause of safety is aided, in the belief of the association, if motorists are warned at a distance by bxight-coloured clothes. Colour further plays its part in the prevention of road accidents through systems of warning and direction signs and road surface markings. This is because certain colours have lightreflecting qualities which make signs, objects or diagrams readily discernible. Since the colour which reflects the most light is the one which may bececn most easily from the greatest distance and in the poorest light, highway safety commissions have given a great deal of thought to the subject. Colour experts have found, in this connection, that white has the highest light reflection value. Cream comes next, and following it, ivory, buff, light green, yellow, grey, light blue, pink, dark tan, clruk red, and dark green. METHOD OF APPLICATION The specifications for sign materials provided by the American Engineering Council are definite. The kinds of wood and metal to be used aro detailed, as are the kinds of paint. For metal signs the paint should be of an enamel, type which permits baking. The paint for wooden signs, both for background and design colours, should be of such a quality that it will not change colour under exposure and will present a surface that is smooth, tough, and without cracks. Wooden signs should have a primer coat, a second coat, and a finish. Each coat, recommends the Engineering Council, must be thoroughly dry before the next one is applied. The life of a sign, fence, or post marking, if painted in this fashion, with a good quality of paint, should be at least three years.

Frequently, those who drive cars appreciate the significance of white as a. safety colour. For example, an lowa furniture dealer lias painted the hack and body of his delivery truck white to protect it from rear collision on winding country roads at night. Many trucks throughout America employ a wooden hand to signal left and right turns to those in the rear. This is specially true in the State of California, where a definite code of arm signals is used. The reflecting qualities of white, or light coloured paint, may he turned to still other uses by the individual motorist. If he had difficulty in guiding his oar up a narrow driveway to the garage at night, he may paint white lines for the wheels to follow, with a white stop line inside the garage.