Warning vest test: devastating result shocked the ADAC

Warning vests should protect. In the dark and in bad weather, they reflect the light of headlights. In emergency situations, people on the side of the road with a warning vest are easy to make out – because they shine when a car approaches. At least that should be the case. But the ADAC found that more than half of the 25 tested west do not work as they should. 60 percent missed the corresponding standard. This is not new, the overall result was bad in the previous test from 2024.

Nobody goes to a specialist shop for the legally prescribed warning vest, so the ADAC also bought five wests from the discounter. The other 20 were ordered on the Internet. At Kaufland and Amazon, but also Aliexpress, Temu and Shein. Amazing: The discounters do not disappoint: Whether from a special price, Thomas Philipps Discounter or Action – all models passed the two -stage test. One part only measures the vertical reflection (3M test set), another laboratory test checked the reflection from different angles. Both tests must have been successful for the grade. The five models that were bought from Aliexpress did not manage that. At Temu and Shein, the same picture: all models failed. But you can also find good vests online. At Amazon and Kaufland.de, some of the tested products convinced.

Bahama warning vest motor vehicle universal

The ADAC has only tested the reflection and not comfort. This is enough for an emergency vest. The ADAC also gives tips on how to test the West that are already in possession. The easiest way is to recording the smartphone with an activated flash. But be careful: the result can. The camera perceives the high reflection of the strips as overexposure and calculates the zones darker than they are. If you don’t want to hang your vest on a street tree to test the reflection with the car headlight, you should illuminate the vest in the dark with the flashlight from a distance of about three meters. The vest shines primarily towards the light source. The observer should therefore hold the lamp himself.

The failure of the warning vests is particularly annoying, because the customer usually does not notice it. He buys the West, deposits them in the car and only uses them in an emergency. And even then the wearer does not notice the insufficient reflection – these only notice other drivers who then only perceive the people late. The difference in luminosity is enormous, as the photo above shows: the child on the left side shines, in the right the alleged light strips are hardly brighter than the normal fabric.