When we walk along the side of the road at night, we are hardly visible to drivers of cars. At the end of August, the regulations will change and you will need to wear reflective vest after dark in the undeveloped zone. It is best to have them with you all the time.
On an unlit roadside, in dark clothing, after dark we are visible to the driver from a distance of 20 m. When we put a reflector – in the spotlight we will appear 150-300 meters from the car. With long lights on, the car driver will spot the pedestrian with a reflection even from a distance of a kilometer. The difference is significant. Recall that the average braking distance of the car at not very high speed is about 40 meters.
Soon we will be better seen after dark. On 31 August, the obligation to wear reflections outside the built-up area comes into force. Until now, only children under the age of 15 had to have them. For the first weeks, we will teach pedestrians about new regulations. We will explain that the reflector costs several zlotys, and we are better visible and safer on the road – says Mares from the traffic department of the Police Headquarters.
He adds that the clasp of the reflective material, for example in the form of a hand strap, takes a few seconds. Remember that the price for a lack of glare is often death or disability. Let us treat this provision in a common sense. The fact that the headlights of the car blind us does not mean that our driver sees us – says Konoye.
The same goes for Lucian from the examination department of the Provincial Road Traffic Center in Wroclaw. As he says, in Wroclaw there are actually no places outside the built-up area, which does not mean that there are no dangerous corners. – An example is the area around Legnica. It is dark and dangerous there – says Gorki. It is recommended to wear reflections. Actually, on every entry to Wroclaw there is signs “built-up area.”
– The entry is an exception, but there pedestrians cannot walk along the street – explains Ewe Mazur from the Board of Roads and City Maintenance. He adds that the provision mainly concerns small towns. The regulations are flexible, the reflection can be a key ring, a shoe or jacket element. Before we buy it, let us check if the manufacturer wrote on the package from what distance we will be visible. Dakota, an actor, has been promoting the wearing of reflectors for 15 years.
He convinces us that we will buy those visible from several hundred meters in a few places. He considers the new recipe to be right and counts that pedestrians will take it to heart. When the car hits us after dark, and we do not have reflective clothing, it may be a gate for the insurer to pay no compensation, Stains notes. He adds that it is worth to put on the manufacturers of clothes the obligation to put reflections on them.