Low cost Hi Viz jacket proving a hit with road safety teams

A private individual from Derbyshire has developed a low cost reflective safety jacket for motorists to keep in the car for emergency situations, together with a child's version of the jacket.

Lancashire County Council has purchased a quantity of the ‘Hi Viz’ jacket to give to drivers on its ‘Speed Awareness Course’, and Darlington Borough Council has purchased a significant quantity of the child's jacket for a major promotion.

"Some years ago I was driving at night with my young daughter in the car," Nigel May-Brown explains. "We came across a warning triangle in the road followed by a woman in a dark coat trying to change a wheel. My daughter Sarah asked me what the triangle did and when I explained she said ‘that triangle should be on the lady, not on the road’.

"This triggered the idea and when I looked around there was very little available except expensive workwear jackets and specialist high visibility cycling garments.

My concept was that if I could offer a low cost jacket, then companies would give them away in large numbers."

Nigel was surprised how difficult it was to get certification for a very simple product. "Quite correctly there are rigid standards for the workwear products and it was hard for me to convince the powers that be that I was not trying make a fast buck by getting certification for an inferior garment," he says.

Nigel eventually achieved EN1150 Type Certification for non-professional garments. However, even with the product fully tested and certified, he still faced a deal of hostility from the 3M Corporation, which sells the expensive reflective material.

"As a private individual working from home with limited funding, getting the product established has been a slow process," Nigel explains. "I did sell some to Halfords but they totally missed the point and marked them up for £7.95. In fairness to them this is not a retail product. It is a bit like smoke alarms - people know they make sense but are reluctant to part with hard earned cash."

Nigel’s first real breakthrough came last year when Lancashire County Council bought 10,000 units to give to drivers taking its Speed Awareness Course.

Since then, there has been increasing interest from fleet managers under pressure to do anything they can to ensure the safety of their drivers. "In Europe several countries are passing legislation saying that people driving in connection with work must have a reflective jacket in the car," Nigel explains. "Spain and the Czech Republic will have this in place by the end of this year."

Many schools are also advocating that pupils should wear a high visibility garment when walking to and from school, and the Hi Viz children’s jacket is ideal for this purpose. "Products currently available tend to be expensive with an average price of £4-5," Nigel adds.

"Darlington Borough Council has just bought 9,000 jackets from me for under £1.50 per unit for Road Safety Week."

Nigel believes that if these items are reasonably priced then more will be used, potentially making a genuine difference to casualty figures.
He also believes that if people get used to children wearing this item, then they will buy a better product when the low cost one wears out.

Further information about the Hi Viz jacket can be found at www.safetyreflectives.com. Alternatively, Nigel May-Brown can be contacted on 01773 550070, or by email at nigel@mallardtrading.freeserve.co.uk