Abstract
Traffic police officers are faced with many dangerous accidents due to outside duties on roads. Yet, researches on traffic officers' uniforms have mainly been focused on design aspects rather than functional aspects. This study therefore aims to figure out traffic officers' perceived needs for their uniforms and to offer some basic guidelines in manufacturing versatile safety vests for wearers. The study used a documentary survey replied by 236 traffic officers. The results of the study are as follows: 1. There are 10 different types of vests currently used by traffic officers. Vests are employed for purposes such as carrying police equipments, enabling officers to be noticeable in dark, protecting the body, etc. 2. Officers wear these vests which were officially designated by law. Among them, fluorescence versatile safety vests were most frequently worn by officers. 3. Officers who wore ready-made vests of which size was already determined, tended to perceive that the vests were relatively larger than their own size. 4. In terms of the functions of the vests, officers expressed needs for the improvement of the LED and retro-reflection tape along with the addition of thermal function to existing vests. The improvement of the form and functions of versatile safety vests which reflect needs of the users will boost the dignity and the sense of duty of the traffic police officers.
