Reflection factors for pedestrian's clothing

Results taken during January 1975 from 1024 randomly selected pedestrians in the Netherlands are compared with those obtained by FC Smith in England during the winter of 1937. Two measurements were made on the subject, one on each of the most dominant article of clothing above and below the waist. The subjects were classified according to age and sex. Measurement sites chosen included a city, its suburb, a provincial town and two villages. The results, presented as histograms and cumulative frequency curves, showed an increased use of lightly coloured garments in 1975 compared with 1937. The distribution of luminous factors in city, town and suburb were all similar, villages had higher values. People over 55 years old wore the darkest clothing and it was found that 3.6 per cent of all those measured wore some kind of reflectors. The authors explain why some bias may be present in the results. (TRRL)