3M Develops Most Efficient Traffic Sign Material 3M™ Diamond Grade™ DG³ Reflective Sheeting

Brighter signs better serve motorists in changing driving environment

Traffic signs soon will be more visible to drivers. For the first time since reflective sign sheeting was introduced more than 60 years ago, new technology from 3M is creating material based on 100% efficient optics. The result is signing material that returns nearly twice as much reflected light as the brightest material currently available.

Signage has become a more challenging aspect of traffic management as road congestion intensifies due to a more diversified mix of vehicles being driven by an aging population. New trends in headlight design also reduce the amount of illumination traditionally directed at signs.

Now, new technology has led to 3M Diamond Grade DG³ reflective sheeting, the optimal signing material for today’s changing driving environment. DG³’s unique design means that the entire cube surface is reflective. Previously, the most efficient optics for signing material were about 65% efficient, although many signs commonly used on today’s roadways still incorporate optics that are as little as 28% efficient.

Delivers where needed most
3M DG³ performs better where drivers need it most: at short and medium sight distances and where signs are positioned in disadvantaged locations such as overhead or in extreme roadside positions like the left shoulder. Since 3M DG³ is a more efficient reflector, signs get brighter with the same level of headlight illumination.

3M DG³ returns more light to motorists whose vehicles are equipped with common VOA (visually/optically aimable) headlights that abruptly cut off illumination at a certain level above the road. VOA headlights, which have become standard on many new vehicles, send even less initial light toward traffic sign faces. One recent scientific study(1) found that VOA lights reduce the visibility of signs by as much as 53% in certain common sign configurations. The high efficiency of 3M DG³ sheeting returns the maximum amount of light back to this weaker light source. Drivers of oversized vehicles such as large trucks, who sit farther from the plane of their headlights, also will benefit from more reflected light.

3M DG³ reflective sheeting is designed as a replacement for nearly all types of reflective sign sheetings in use today. As a proposed ASTM Type XI sheeting, it meets or exceeds ASTM standards for Type III, IV and IX sheetings, the most common types in use today.

Changing demographics also play into the need for improved signage. Statistics show that the fastest growing demographic group is those over age 65, and those people also are driving longer. However, beginning at about that same age, older drivers also are involved in a disproportionate share of accidents compared to the number of miles they drive. That is one reason the Federal Highway Administration(2) has suggested improved signing and pavement markings as key safety enhancements for older drivers, who have slower response times and decreased visual acuity at night.

1. Sivak, M., University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, 2000-2001.
2. “Transportation in an Aging Society,” special report 218, FHWA, 1988.