Reflective film reflects incident light in such a way that the film shines brightly for the observer. This makes vehicles and objects more visible, especially in road traffic, when someone approaches them on a car or bicycle. With regard to fire departments and police forces, reflective foil is mainly used in the construction of special vehicles. The white surfaces on vehicles and work clothing are usually fitted with reflective foil. Although many people use reflective foil in the private sector, for example to be seen better when jogging or to make their dog more visible, its use on normal passenger vehicles is prohibited.
Contour markings are a special form of reflective foil. As the name suggests, this makes the contour of a vehicle more clearly visible. These are mandatory for trucks with a gross vehicle weight over 7.5 tons and trailers over 3.5 tons and are applied to the rear. In addition, the sides must be marked as soon as the vehicle is longer than six meters. Contour markings are also permitted for fire engines, police cars and other emergency vehicles with flashing blue lights - although this is not mandatory. The same applies to buses, tractor units, trucks in category N2 and trailers in category O2, among others.
As in the case of reflective foil, the fitting of contour markings to passenger vehicles is prohibited. In view of the basic differentiation from trucks, the glare effect in urban traffic and the necessary distance between the markings and the brake lights, contour markings simply do not make sense for passenger cars.
