According to the traffic police, in 2015 in Russia about 57 thousand pedestrians were injured due to the collision of vehicles (including 8 thousand children). More than 19 thousand hit-and-run cases occurred at pedestrian crossings (3 thousand children were injured). About 25 thousand incidents occurred at night. Almost 7 thousand people were killed, more than 52 thousand were injured.
Today we will not talk about the many obvious ways to protect yourself. Let's talk about one thing that is not obvious. Reflective keychains, bracelets, stickers, ribbons and vests have not yet become a familiar attribute for pedestrians. The idea is to make yourself more visible to the driver at night. To do this, you need to put special elements on clothes, a bag or a backpack.
It can be a shiny catafot keychain on a ring or chain, a sticker reflecting light, various decorative elements in the form of faces, stars, bears, seals and anything else. All this, if you look closely, is sold in ordinary kiosks with magazines and other small things and on the Internet with delivery. Reflective elements were seen on sale even in the Russian Post office in the center of Moscow at a price of 55 rubles apiece.
The practical benefit is that it increases the likelihood that you will be noticed. How much does it increase?
According to available studies, the presence of reflective elements increases pedestrian visibility by 3-5 times. Think about how you look to a driver in the dark and why all vehicles, including mopeds, have something in their design that reflects light.
In a number of countries, according to the law, even car drivers must have a special vest in the trunk and wear it in case of an accident, if it is necessary to get out of the car and be near it. Motorcyclists and moped drivers should place reflective elements on their helmets. Pedestrians in a number of countries may face difficulties in purchasing insurance if they do not promise to wear a special element reflecting light. The law often forces people to be clearly visible in the dark for their own good.
A piece of plastic for several tens of rubles can save a life. Choosing clothes that are more noticeable in the dark for yourself and the child is also.
In the post-Soviet space, dark colors often prevail in clothing, which makes pedestrians almost invisible. But this is easily fixed.
Do you think that such a solution is too simple to think about it seriously? However, sometimes the truth is much simpler than we think.
