Thursday, July 21, 2011

Inattentional Blindness - You Cannot Be Aware of Everything

Why is inattentional blindness relevant to WrapSlap reflective armbands? WrapSlap is highly reflective (passes CE EN13356:2001). At night a cyclist, runner or walker might be seen by a motorist because they are wearing the highly visible WrapSlap.


Video with Prof. Susan Greenfield explaining Inattentional Blindness. With Prof. Daniel J Simons, Harvard University.

Read about Inattentional Blindness on Wikipedia.

Take the selective attention test.




Monday, July 18, 2011

SMIDSY (Sorry Mate, I Didn't See You)

Why are so many road accidents caused by road users failing to see one another?


I heard of SMIDSY acronym via RoadSafetyUK article on French compulsory use by motorcyclists of fluorescent HiViz jackets during the day.

More about SMIDSY at SafeSpeed.co.uk.


Monday, August 2, 2010

CE EN 13356 Reflectivity standard

The CE EN 13356 Reflectivity standard is for visibility accessories for non-professional use. These products reflect the vehicle headlights back to the driver. Be Safe Be Seen! For example BeSeenPromotions.co.uk WrapSlap are to EN13356 standard.

CE EN13356 & BS EN 13356: 2001 are European & British Standards for products primarily intended to be worn or carried by individuals to make them more conspicuous to other road users under low light levels. The products rely upon retro-reflection for their performance and are aids to conspicuity that perform best in circumstances of very low ambient lighting. Products conforming to CE EN 13356 standard have a utility when their movement and retro-reflection attract observers' attention. Visibility accessories complying with this standard are intended to signal the user's presence visually when illuminated by vehicle headlight on dark roads. This standard is not applicable to garments.

Important note: On lit urban roads or in circumstances in which the failure of a vehicle driver to become aware of another road user could result in the serious injury or death of that road user, only high conspicuity garments conforming to EN 471 : 1994 (High-visibility warning clothing) or EN 1150 (protective visibility clothing for non-professional use) can be recommended for use to provide conspicuity.

The definitions for photometry (light measurement) used in the EN 13356 standard are CIE 17.4:1987 (International lighting vocabulary) - Chapter 845 Lighting; CIE 18.2 : 1983 (basis of physical photometry); CIE 54 : 1982 (Retroreflection: definition and measurement)

Products that apply to EN 13356 standard are:-
  • type 1 - free hanging accessory - an item suspended from a garment or part of the body which is capable of hanging freely and of being removed by a conscious action
    • Type 1 fasteners should be produced so that if subject to undue force they separate from the garment or body from which they are suspended.
  • type 2 - removable accessory - an item which is temporarily attached to a garment or on to part of the body and is removable without the aid of tools.
    • Requirements of type 2 reflectors should be specified by Table 2
  • type 3 - mounted accessory - an item manufactured to be permanently affixed
  • flexible/rigid accessory - accessory capable / not capable of being wound around a 25 mm mandrel in all orientations without any visible deformation
  • orientation sensitive material - having coefficients of retroreflection that differ by more than 15 % when measured at the two rotation angles
15cm2 minimum Retroreflective Area
The accessories shall meet requirements of area as well as retroreflection. When mounting the retroreflector on a garment, the area of the accessory shall be such so that the requirements for the retroreflective value are met. The area of a type 1 accessory shall be between 15 cm2 and 50cm2 per side. If the type 1 accessory is retroreflective from two sides the thickness shall be maximum 10 mm. Each type 2 and type 3 accessory shall exceed the area of 15 cm2.

The accessories shall achieve the minimum retroreflective values given either in Table 1 or Table 2 (see below). The followings tests are made to ensure that after testing the reflective products still confirm to specs in Table 1 and 2:-
  • Abrasion / brushing resistance
  • Washing and dry cleaning requirements
  • Durability against heat
  • Low temperature requirements (folding)
  • Influence of rainfall
  • Exposure to water
Marking
The accessories shall be marked with the following:- 
  • name of the manufacturer or code
  • type number
The marking shall be:-
  • on the product itself or labels attached to the product or to the smallest packaging unit.
  • affixed so as to be legible.
  • durable for the appropriate number of cleaning processes, where appropriate.
  • large enough to convey immediate understanding and to allow the use of readily legible characters (numbers not smaller than 2 mm is recommended)
Instruction for use 
shall include the following information:-
  • Name, trade mark or other means of identification of the manufacturer or his authorized representative
  • Designation of the product type, commercial name or code
  • Number of this specific standard (EN 13356)
  • Accessories shall be supplied to the customer with information written at least in the official language(s) of the state of destination. 
  • The following minimum information shall be given:
    • Fixing - how to attach
    • Necessary warnings of misuse
    • Limitations on use (e. g. environment)
    • Storage - how to store correctly
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