“Early Warning”

Press, 15 July 1982, Page 23

“Early Warning”

Teaching people to drive is one job where one sees the risk joggers, cyclists and pedestrians take at night. Dark clothing, poorstreetlighting and the problem of smog combine to make this group of people particularly vulnerable at night. Mrs Lois Eagle has been a driving instructor for the last 14 years. During this time her main concern has not been nervous pupils but the worry of not being able to see pedestrians and joggers and possibly hitting someone. “So many times, I have seen rugby players out jogging wearing black sborts and jerseys,” Lois said. “Most of the time, it is not

until you are almost driving parallel to tbe runners that you actually see them,” she says. In 1969, a young Christchurch boy was killed in the early evening outside Christ’s College. This incident spurred Lois to act. She decided to design and make reflectorised garments for both children and adutlts so they could be easily seen at night. She began by making a

simple red sash using the reflectorised tape worn by traffic officers. Tbe sash has been altered, and is made from bright red P.V.C. sheeting with white or silver reflective Scotchlite tape sewn on the material. Because the garments are all tested under working conditions, slight adjustments are often made on the original design to make them more functional. Instead of the white reflecting tape,

A unique range of reflective clothing has been introduced by Slazengers New Zealand. Ltd, and increases the visibility of all road users.

The material looks .and feels like any other nylon material during the day, but when illuminated by a source such as a car's headlights, the entire garment appears to flow bright silver. This is a result of a special Scotchlite reflective finish treatment which involves the coating of millions of built-in microspheres that reflect a beam of light back to its source.

Light striking the microspheres is refracted as it passes though the surface of the lens then reflected off the rear mirrored surface and as it passes through the lens, is finally refracted again and directed back towards the light source.

The material is called Early Warning fabric and makes the wearer highly visible up to 100 metres.