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Similar situation...the U.S. fire fighting community starting using European-style reflective chevrons in the 2005-2010 period. U.S. apparatus spec is governed by something called NFPA 1901 but is highly decentralized and people were mounting them upside down even though they were conforming to the (nascent) standard for rear reflective surface area. The "V" shape of upside down chevrons can pull people TOWARDS a vehicle vs. direct them away from it. Mostly fixed now but a hot mess.

Incorrect: https://ambulancevisibilityblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/...

Correct: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-bright-neon-yellow-and-red...

Just why?: https://svigraphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Curbside-...

tl;dr you can meet a safety standard and make things worse at the same time...



Gotta love the warning KEEP BACK 343 FEET in the "correct" photo. Where in the world did they get 343 feet? That doesn't correspond to a round number in meters, an integer fraction of a mile, or anything else.


>The "V" shape of upside down chevrons can pull people TOWARDS a vehicle vs. direct them away from it.

Is there any actual evidence of this? It seems roughly the same in terms of effect and attention getting.


> Just why?

Just to leave a nice uncluttered center area as background for the shield. Everyone knows the sanctity of graphic design trumps puny safety regs.




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