How to save a pedestrian from injury or death for 55 rubles

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Having the simplest reflective elements on your clothes can be life-saving. We understand the details.

The situation on the roads in Russia is unsafe - every day drivers crush pedestrians. Half of these incidents are caused by the drivers, while the other half are caused by the actions of the pedestrians themselves. 43% of tragedies occur in the evening and at night, when visibility is reduced and people are tired.

According to the traffic police, in 2015 in Russia about 57 thousand pedestrians were injured due to collisions of vehicles (of which 8 thousand were children). More than 19 thousand collisions occurred at pedestrian crossings (3 thousand children were injured). About 25 thousand incidents occurred in the dark. Almost 7 thousand people died, more than 52 thousand were injured.

Today we are not going to talk about the many obvious ways to protect yourself. Let's talk about one non-obvious one. 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 place special items on your clothes, bag or backpack.

It can be a shiny reflective keychain on a ring or chain, a light-reflecting sticker, various decorative elements in the form of faces, stars, bears, cats and anything else. All this, if you look closely, is sold in ordinary kiosks with magazines and other trifles and on the Internet with delivery. Reflective elements were seen on sale even in the Russian Post branch in the center of Moscow at a price of 55 rubles per item.

The practical benefit is that it increases the likelihood that you will be noticed. How much is it going up?

According to available studies, the presence of reflective elements increases the visibility of a pedestrian by 3-5 times. Think about what you look like 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 the event of an accident, if it is necessary to get out of the car and stay near it. Motorcyclists and moped drivers must place reflective elements on their helmets. Pedestrians in a number of countries may find it difficult to acquire insurance unless they promise to wear a special element that reflects light. The law often forces people to be clearly visible in the dark for their own good.

A piece of plastic for a few tens of rubles can save life. The choice of clothing for yourself and the child that is more noticeable in the dark is the same.

In the post-Soviet space, dark colors often prevail in clothes, which makes pedestrians almost invisible. But this is easily fixed.