Children’s eyes are beaming with the new items of clothing: 5,000 safety vests in eye-catching reflective neon colors distributed to Salzburg kindergarten children. Seeing and being seen is one of the most essential requirements for safe participation in the road traffic, the initiators of the action Land Salzburg, Uniqa insurance and KFV Board of Trustees for traffic safety agree.

 

At the beginning of the new season, all kindergartens in Salzburg receive a package with a very special content: reflective safety vests, which contribute to increasing road safety.

 

“In addition to mobility education, the kindergarten vest is a simple but effective means to make the smallest road users more visible, and therefore safer,” says Landrat Stefan Schnöll.

 

“In our kindergartens’ common excursions are often undertaken. They make a significant contribution to children’s discovering and understanding the world. The vest helps to make the trips even safer,” adds Provincial Councilor Andrea Klambauer.

 

The vest developed in collaboration with kindergarten educators and is specially tailored to the needs of the little ones. A ten-centimeter long, horizontal Velcro closure allows the safety clothing to “grow along” over several years and provides an optimal fit in summer and winter. A practical suspension loop ensures order in the cloakroom. And a transparent window on the front makes it possible to personalize the safety vests with the help of name badges or pictures or to stow tickets in it during excursions.

 

Also visible at dusk and in the dark

 

The eye-catching, neon-orange color and reflectors ensure that the children are visible during the day, but also at dusk and in the dark. “For us as the largest private insurer in the country, security is a concern in all circumstances. Good visibility can make a significant contribution to the little ones,” says Uniqa Marketing Director Andrea Eder-Gitschthaler.

 

More security through visibility

 

In the previous year, 2,890 children were killed in road traffic in Austria, three of them deadly. Many of the victims were on foot or by bicycle. “Our studies show that about half of the children are dressed too dark to be visible. By wearing visible, bright clothing with reflective fabric and reflectors, the accident risk can be reduced by almost half, “says Martin Pfanner of the Road Safety Board.