How 3M gets you home safely at night

"The newer, highly efficient reflective sheeting is 10 times brighter than conventional glass bead sheeting, and is proven to help you avoid dangerous nighttime collisions.."

In 1939, at a highway intersection in Minnesota state, the very first fully reflective traffic sign was erected. This pivotal moment in the use of reflective materials as a tool to increase motorists' safety, was born in the research labs of 3M. Reflective Sheeting, originally designed to replace highway marking paint, quickly found a home on vertical traffic signs around the world.

The technological breakthrough that brought Scotchlite™ Reflective Sheeting to life, is known as 'Retro-Reflection' - the returning of light back to its source. Minute glass beads, with a tiny reflector on the back, capture and refocus light from the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, and reflect it back to the driver.

In the years since the original achievement of 1939, 3M scientists have been hard at work, constantly improving the technology of Retro-Reflection and structure of the sheeting itself. The first generation of glass beads were large by today's standards - almost the size of BB's, and the sheeting tended to become dulled by dust, sunlight and moisture from exposure. But in 1948, the beads were sealed under a flat, smooth surface that provided protection from the elements, and this version of Engineer, 'Flat-Top' grading is still widely used today.