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Safety Reflectors for Kids

According to the National Safety Council, 700 cyclists were killed in 2007 and more than half a million cyclists were hospitalized after accidents. Bicycle reflectors combined with protective helmets offer your child the best defense against injury, allowing oncoming drivers to see her in time to brake quickly. Kids who walk during dusk or twilight also need reflective material to reduce the risk of being struck by a car. Wearing brightly colored clothing doesn't provide enough additional visibility at night, making reflective tape the best option for child pedestrians at night.

  1. Kids' Visibility to Drivers at Night

    • The NSC reports that the odds of a pedestrian being struck by a car while walking at night increases 1,100 percent over the risk of walking during daylight. Children who wear white clothing at night are visible to motorists 180 feet away, but children riding bikes equipped with reflectors or wearing reflective tape on their clothing are visible from a distance of 500 feet. That extra visibility can save lives, a Cornell University Cooperative Extension Program study found that drivers traveling at 20 mph need 64 feet to come to a complete stop on dry pavement, and those traveling at 60 mph need a full 260 feet to halt their vehicles.

    Types of Reflectors

    • A standard bike reflector, sometimes called a retro reflector, is the familiar

      reflector inset into a plastic frame that parents can mount onto their kids' bicycles. The reflector takes the light emitted from a source, such as a headlight, and reflects it back to its origin, making the cyclist visible to the driver. Standard reflectors may be prismatic or glass bead models and both are equally effective, making kids visible 500 feet from the original light source. Luminescent or fluorescent reflective tape emits a soft green glow that's in darkness, providing additional visibility when kids affix it to their clothing. Iridescent films diffuse light to create a prismatic color effect, but while they emit light, they don't reflect it.

    Equipping Kids' Bicycles with Reflectors

    • The NSC recommends mounting a red reflector on the bike's rear and a white reflector on the bike's front fender. Kids' bicycles should also be equipped with a pair of spoke reflectors on each tire and pedal reflectors on the bicycle's pedals. The NSC strongly suggests parents forbid their children to ride at night, but if they do, equip the cycle with a bike lamp, allowing the child to clearly see obstacles and making her more conspicuous to drivers.

    Reflectors for Child Pedestrians

    • Kids who walk at night should wear reflective strips on a jacket or backpack to increase their visibility and give drivers time to react if they need to brake quickly. Children wearing fluorescent bands around their arms and legs are more visible to motorists at night, as drivers' eyes will register the contrast of the moving bands of light from their surroundings. Retro-reflective clothing provides additional visibility, using tiny beads woven into the garments to reflect light back to its source.

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