For almost a year, pedestrians moving outside the village have a duty to wear a reflective element in the dark and the evening. According to the police, the best reflective vests are visible. But the results from the testing room, which were also Czech Television, show that many of them, after a few storms, have lost their luminous intensity. The people in them, though, do their duty, but they cannot be seen better.
The requirement is that the vests withstand 25 cycles of washing, said Ivan Itch, a technician at the Textile Testing Institute (TZÚ). Although the tested vest declares that it can withstand 50 cycles of washing, signs of wear are visible after the first.
The vest material according to the head of the Certification Department of TZU is inadequate because it is very thin: “After the first wash, the damage is visible on the reflective tape.” The vest would not be tested according to the test. After ten rumors, it would be almost useless in the field.
“These fluorescence belts are susceptible to wear during washing and maintenance,” Horace explained. Materials are also destroyed by abrasion or bending. In the institute, therefore, they simulate the friction of the vest that pedestrians walk in. However, none of the samples tested.
At the last inspection, no third vest was passed
For bikes or children’s clothing, there are no limits on the properties of the material. The radiant color is only an advantage in these cases. On the contrary, the strict parameters are prescribed by the law for working clothes, that is, it is just for reflective safety vests.
According to reflection experts, the CE mark is one of the most important data. “There are vests that do not have a brand and look very similar. But they cannot really be guaranteed that the reflexive properties are in order. “said Karle Kieta, an author of the Karle Kieta Certified Safety Institute.
But the TZU test did not pass the vest on the stand that had this brand. The Czech Trade Inspection carried out the last control action targeting these goods in 2012. The fault was found with every third manufacturer.