London – 21 April, 2009 - According to the BBC today the government intends to announce new drives to cut the amount of accidents and deaths caused by drivers on the roads.

Government proposals involve a range of initiatives including bringing down the speed limits on roads from 30mph to 20mph in urban locations and 60mph to 50mph in the countryside. This move is consistent with the Reflexite drive to ensure the very best practice regarding safety and visibility on the roads, particularly when high speeds are involved.

Personal safety, vehicle conspicuity as well as traffic control devices and systems all need to be as bright as possible in order that accidents are kept to a minimum and the amount of deaths on the roads are reduced. It is all about being seen and being safe and brightness plays a large part in this.

The Governments plans are to reduce the speed limit on some roads and this is where the importance of visibility and brightness comes to the forefront of safety measures. Brightness is measured in a similar way that vehicles are, the more BHP (Brake Horse Power) a vehicle has the more power it has, whereas brightness is measured in candelas/lux 2 and the more candelas the brighter you are. As the vehicle travels towards you, seeing you earlier allows the vehicle to take evasive action sooner. Reflexite’s prismatic technology is the brightest option for high visibility garments, vehicles and traffic control devices and systems and this means that you can be seen from further away.

Visibility issues associated with speed.

This new government initiative comes at a time when Health and Safety Executives and those responsible for purchasing visibility solutions also have a keen eye on the new Corporate Manslaughter Act, which according to Lyons Davidson Solicitors, who specialize in the new Corporate Manslaughter Act, means that visibility is vital. A representative from Lyons Davidson Solicitors suggests, "The use of reflective materials goes to the heart of health and safety, their very design is to afford protection to any individual coming into contact with them in a hazardous environment."

If there is a fatality on the roads involving an employee who may be wearing low quality inferior reflective materials on their garment, or a worker who is conducting their work on a dangerous road using traffic control devices or someone involved in a collision with a commercial vehicle and that the very brightest reflective materials are not used then this is potentially a very serious situation in terms of the Corporate Manslaughter Act.

The government’s new initiative may be very welcome, however, the responsibility to reduce accidents also remains with the buyers of health and safety equipment and this includes PPE, vehicle conspicuity and also traffic control systems and there is no doubt that by using the very latest, brightest, technologically advanced retro-reflective materials lives can be saved.

Reflexite is offering a free sample to those customers who book an appointment with a Reflexite representative. Interested parties should contact their local Reflexite representative on  01865 396959  or visit www.reflexite.co.uk where products can be viewed and contact information can be submitted.