News — High Visibility Tapes

Purpose This guide provides advice to heavy vehicle owners and operators about the fitting of additional reflectors and conspicuity markings on heavy vehicles intended to improve their visibility. Introduction The ability to readily see and identify a heavy vehicle, especially in low light and low visibility environments, has important road safety benefits. In the early 1990s, to improve heavy vehicle visibility, the Federal Office of Road Safety introduced a requirement for motor vehicles with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) over 12 tonnes and trailers with an aggregate trailer mass (ATM) over 10 tonnes to be fitted with rear marking plates....

Collisions between heavy trucks and trailers with smaller, lighter vehicles can often result in severe injuries or even death to the occupants of the smaller vehicle. In many cases, these accidents may be the result of the heavy vehicle not being seen by the approaching motorist in time for the accident to be avoided, particularly in poor weather conditions or at night. Extensive research in both the United States and Europe has shown a dramatic reduction in the frequency and intensity of such vehicle accidents with the use of retroreflective stripes and other markings that outline the contour of the...