Traffic police focused on pedestrians in the early morning and evening hours as part of Wednesday’s traffic safety event to see if they were sufficiently visible to drivers.
According to the head of Hradec Králové’s traffic police Karel Kotil, a total of 110 pedestrians were checked, of which only eight had no reflective elements. “But it was in illuminated sections,” he said, adding that one of the pedestrians from Bystricko handed over for administrative proceedings.
“They are pedestrians who know about the obligation to have reflective elements but don’t wear them when they don’t have to. So far we have distributed 1100 reflective tapes, 150 bags, 20 reflective braces for motorcyclists and 200 orange reflective vests for drivers. But reflective vests can also be used by cyclists and pedestrians, “Karel Kotil said.
Police also stopped a pedestrian in Hradec, who had headphones in his ears and did not respond to their challenge. “Headphones with loud music are a problem. The pedestrian then does not hear the approaching car, does not perceive what is happening in the area and easily becomes the victim of an accident, “warns Karel Kotil.
According to road safety experts, at night the driver will see pedestrians with a reflective element at a distance of two hundred meters. At 75 km / h, the driver needs at least 1.5 seconds to realize the danger and react. During that time it will travel 31 meters. And before he starts his own evasive maneuver, he walks more than 150 meters away from seeing a pedestrian. For this task, the driver needs approximately 200 meters, which is the distance a pedestrian with a reflective element will see. This implies that a person moving in dark clothes at night does not give much chance to safely avoid the maneuver. Therefore, not only cyclists have to be properly illuminated and marked at night at present, but also the pedestrians have to wear reflective material elements outside the village.
Although pedestrians do not have to have reflective elements in the city, the police appealed to all who walked along the sidewalk of Kasal’s sawmill in Jindrichuv Hradec in the morning, to urge them to wear reflective elements everywhere and to distribute them immediately. For example, Naďa Vaclavova had a flashlight with her, but in her bag. She explained that she did not walk much at night, but as a driver, she acknowledged that pedestrians should be well visible in the dark.
“The autumn and winter periods, when the day is getting shorter and driveability is getting worse, are extremely demanding for the driver’s attention. On slippery surfaces, it does not stop as fast as on dry roads. Pedestrians and cyclists should be aware of this and adhere to the principle of being seen,” said police spokeswoman Hana Millerova.
Her words were added by the head of the Hradec Kralové traffic police: “Drivers must expect that the weather conditions can change rapidly. Where they pass the nineties in the dry without problems, a sixty can be dangerous. It can freeze water from cars carrying verbal fish, it will also do wet mud.”