Improving visibility of buses during nights

Improving visibility of buses during nights

The Hindu

It will help in reducing road accidents

# There were 671 accidents involving BMTC, KSTRC buses in the city police limits last year
# `Conspicuity tape' is made of numerous microprisms offering maximum reflection

Bangalore: Perhaps because of their sheer size and the space they take up on the roads, buses cause a fairly large number of accidents.

Last year, there were 671 accidents involving buses of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation in areas coming under the Bangalore city police jurisdiction. These accidents caused 112 deaths and injured 473 persons.

Reducing bus accidents involves, among other safety measures such as speed control, making them more visible to other vehicle drivers during nights, especially on poorly lit suburban roads and on the highways near the city. Most accidents occur at night, studies by the police have shown.

The company which makes those "yellow stickies" on which reminders are written and pasted on office walls and sometimes on computers, has stepped into accident prevention too. 3M India Ltd, through its Traffic Safety Systems division, has brought to this region tapes with "retroreflective" technology that enhances visibility of parked vehicles.

"We recently completed a pilot project involving the use of `conspicuity sheeting' on 250 KSRTC buses. The success has been validated so far by bus drivers," said S. Sashidharan, General Manager, Traffic, Graphics, Safety and Government Markets of 3M India Ltd.

Known as the "conspicuity tape" the sticker material is made of numerous microprisms capable of total internal reflection, offering maximum reflection from more than one kilometre away, he explained. The product offers the highest visibility of the bus to other road users, during nights when the ambient light is practically absent. These are not just pieces of reflective strips on bumpers alone but covering the entire contour of a vehicle so that other drivers can make out they are near a bus or that a bus is approaching them, Mr Sashidharan said. The buses have been found to be visible even when it is raining.

3M's association with road safety in Bangalore dates back to the late 1980s. The company has fabricated reflective signages for the flyovers and underpasses in the city, including the large Airport Road flyover and for the Bangalore-Mysore expressway. Improving visibility of buses during nights

Special Correspondent

It will help in reducing road accidents

# There were 671 accidents involving BMTC, KSTRC buses in the city police limits last year
# `Conspicuity tape' is made of numerous microprisms offering maximum reflection

Bangalore: Perhaps because of their sheer size and the space they take up on the roads, buses cause a fairly large number of accidents.

Last year, there were 671 accidents involving buses of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation in areas coming under the Bangalore city police jurisdiction. These accidents caused 112 deaths and injured 473 persons.

Reducing bus accidents involves, among other safety measures such as speed control, making them more visible to other vehicle drivers during nights, especially on poorly lit suburban roads and on the highways near the city. Most accidents occur at night, studies by the police have shown.

The company which makes those "yellow stickies" on which reminders are written and pasted on office walls and sometimes on computers, has stepped into accident prevention too. 3M India Ltd, through its Traffic Safety Systems division, has brought to this region tapes with "retroreflective" technology that enhances visibility of parked vehicles.

"We recently completed a pilot project involving the use of `conspicuity sheeting' on 250 KSRTC buses. The success has been validated so far by bus drivers," said S. Sashidharan, General Manager, Traffic, Graphics, Safety and Government Markets of 3M India Ltd.

Known as the "conspicuity tape" the sticker material is made of numerous microprisms capable of total internal reflection, offering maximum reflection from more than one kilometre away, he explained. The product offers the highest visibility of the bus to other road users, during nights when the ambient light is practically absent. These are not just pieces of reflective strips on bumpers alone but covering the entire contour of a vehicle so that other drivers can make out they are near a bus or that a bus is approaching them, Mr Sashidharan said. The buses have been found to be visible even when it is raining.

3M's association with road safety in Bangalore dates back to the late 1980s. The company has fabricated reflective signages for the flyovers and underpasses in the city, including the large Airport Road flyover and for the Bangalore-Mysore expressway.