How many understand difference between fluorescent & reflective ?

[Somnolent]

Evidently not the local plod.
Just come off the phone with the traffic officer who attended the scene when my youngest was knocked off recently (no serious damage)
He closed out the conversation with the suggestion that if he's going out at night the lad might consider making himself more visible by wearing a fluorescent jacket.
And yes, before anyone asks, he was using (very bright) lights

[lahoski]

I hope you enlightened him?

[PaulF]

Hope your youngest is OK

For those that don't know the difference - I had to Google to be sure - I found this:

The Difference Between Fluorescent And Retroreflective Materials At The Workplace
Some of the safety items that you should have at your workplace, include fluorescent and retroreflective materiel items. Although both of these types of materials are made to ensure that they draw attention to themselves, but they differ in a few ways. We’re going to show you some of the key differences between the two materials.

The fluorescent material differs from retroreflective materials in that it absorbs some invisible ultraviolet light from sunlight, then special pigments release those UV light rays as more visible light. It can only do this in areas where there is natural light. Even in environments that don’t have very much natural light, fluorescent material seems much brighter than materials of the same color, which are non-fluorescent. It seems especially bright when the day is drawing near to dusk or dawn and it also contrast well against a lot of different backgrounds.


On the other hand, the retroreflective material actually returns light into the direction of the light’s source and serves to allow the driver to see the light reflected from the material that the person is wearing. This type of material tends to work best in environments that are dully lit. It’s not that these materials can’t reflect in the daylight, but it doesn’t do a very good job. There is a lack of contrast, unlike for fluorescent material, making it a material that isn’t great for enhanced visibility during the bright daylight.

From http://www.advancedct.com/wp/the-difference-between-fluorescent-and-retroreflective-materials-at-the-workplace/

[clarion]

*facepalm*

[Quisling]

In fairness to plod most, er, "safety clothing" of the waistcoat variety comprises a mix of reflective strips on a fluorescent type garment.
Nonetheless, whilst undoubtedly intended as a helpful piece of safety advice it does smack gently of victim blaming.

[Kim]

I reckon the average ossifer's understanding of victim-blaming is at least as rudimentary as their understanding of hi-visibility clothing.

[Moleman76]

I reckon the average ossifer's understanding of victim-blaming is at least as rudimentary as their understanding of hi-visibility clothing.

I reckon they're better at blaming victims in this sort of event, than knowing the fine and basic points of what makes some things visible or even more visible

[T42]

I don't think that many people know the difference.  Among cyclists here a hi-viz vest is a "gilet fluo" even if it is catadioptric as well.

The funny thing is that those ghastly orange spoke reflectors are called catadioptriques here, and the word is applied to other chunks of plastic that do the same thing. Were you to apply it to a shiny weskit you'd probably get a few puzzled looks.

[Kim]

I reckon the average ossifer's understanding of victim-blaming is at least as rudimentary as their understanding of hi-visibility clothing.

I reckon they're better at blaming victims in this sort of event, than knowing the fine and basic points of what makes some things visible or even more visible

Oh, they're really good at it, but they don't understand what they're doing.  You don't need an understanding of victim-blame to attribute a burglary to an open window any more than you need an understanding of optics to know that hi-vis^[1] makes you more visible in poor light.


_{[1] For the avoidance of doubt, I'm using this as a term for items which combine fluorescent and retroreflective materials.}