The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-11-12
RED NOT GOOD DANGER SIGNAL.

RED NOT GOOD DANGER SIGNAL.
Red has been the sign of danger
and q warning signal since the ear
Hest times. Just why it was selected
Is q danger-warning IL question for
the anthropologist and historian to-
determine. 1t IL unfortunate that
this color. which is becoming increas-
ingly important with the growing
danger Of accidents in civilized life.
In the color to which many human
eyes are insensitive. Color blindness
il apparently becoming more COM
mon. In its most frequent form, it
is impossible for the color-blind per-
son to distinguish red from green.
yet those two colors. which are
the most confusing to the human ret
ina, are the very ones which are in
most common use as signals for dam
ger and caution. So common is red
and green color-blindness that all
licensed pilots. masters OF vessels. en-
gineers. firemen, motormen and
others employed in directing vessels.
trains. trolley-cars and other means
Of transportation are required to sub
NIT to a color test and to prove that
they possess an accurate degree Of
red-green color perception. The sim
pie expedient of selecting as a sign
of danger a color to which practically
all human eyes are susceptible has
only recently been suggested. Drugs,
Oils and Paints, in a recent issue,
contains an article by DIR. Francis
d. Patterson. suggesting a new signal
| - TO-
warning. Patterson calls attention to
the fact that the number of industrial
accidents Is at present enormous and
is apparently increasing. AS approx
imately one male in every twenty
Ave has a deficient color perception
and as most of these have an i'm
paired sensibility for red. DR.. Patter-
son argues that the retention of this
color as a danger-signal IL simply in
viting further increase in accidents.
His objection il based on the fact
that many persons are color-blind to
red and are consequently not only
barred from any occupation in which
color perception is necessary. but
are also deprived of the protection
from accidents and danger supposed
to be offered by danger-signals. He
also objects to red for practical rea-
sons; it IL q fugitive color. difficult to
distinguish, fading on exposure to
sunlight and requiring frequent re-
pairing. The possibility that red and
green color-blindness will increase
rather than diminish in the future
only serves to emphasize the unfitness
Of these colors as signs of danger and
caution. Experiments with the spec
trum and with color-blind persons,
as we'll as with various colors at diff
ferent distances. leads Patterson to
the conclusion that yellow and blue
are the best colors for danger signals.
as he says that they are the only
colors which give rise to a normal
color-sensation as soon as they be-
come visible, are the most luminous
colors Of the spectrum. and are per-
manent and fast, while color-blind
persons react normally to them. 1t
has long since passed into a proverb,
says The Journal Of the American
Medical Association. that it is easier
to change the laws of the people than
to change their customs. The fact
that many persons are unable to dis
tinguish red from other colors should
alone be sufficient to cause 1t to be
discarded as a danger signal What
ever color Is adopted should be se-
lected after the most careful ply
siologic and optical investigation.