The little white front and red tail reflectors that come with a newly bought bike are not only useless in most cases, but often take extra room and interfere with mounting lights etc. on handlebar and seat post. They are useless nuisance. Couldn't the manufacturers just make part of the bike frame reflective with reflective painting or reflective tapes (like many of us do)? What do you think?
CPSC has dictated what comes as OEM reflectors on new bikes for decades.
Manufactures conform to those specs.
Lobby CPSC to change specs.
"[h=4]Are there requirements for reflectors?[/h]
Yes. To make sure that motorists can see bicycle riders at night, bicycles (other than sidewalk bicycles) must have a combination of reflectors. Because of the complexity of these requirements, we have not attempted to include all of the tests and detail in this summary. You should carefully read the provisions of
§1512.16 for more specific information.
Generally, bicycles must have a colorless front reflector, recessed colorless or amber reflectors on the back and front sides of the pedals, and a red reflector on the rear. They must also have a reflector mounted on the spokes of each wheel, or reflective front and rear wheel rims or tire sidewalls. See §1512.18(n) for tests that measure the reflectance value of reflectors.
The front and rear reflectors must be mounted so that they do not hit the ground when the bicycle falls over. The requirements of the regulation also include specific angles for mounting the reflectors. See
§1512.18(m) for tests that apply to front and rear reflectors.
The side reflector on a front wheel must be colorless or amber, and the rear wheel side reflector must be colorless or red. Reflective material on the sidewall or rim of a tire must go around the entire circumference, must not peel, scrape, or rub off, and must meet certain reflectance tests. See
§1512.18(o) for these reflectance tests and §1512.18(r) for the abrasion test for reflective rims."
http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Business--Man...-Requirements/
Good luck w/ that.
PS:
What makes you think that "The little white front and red tail reflectors that come with a newly bought bike are not only useless in most cases"? Those ref fittings are designed to an old proven & well researched spec and have kept who knows how many bikes from being smacked by vehicular traffic after sunset by being fitted by CPSC mandate. Do better if you think you can.
I have zero CPSC ref kit fitted to any of my machines but think it's a good idea that the children in my neighborhood do.
-Bandera