[article] Clothing plan to cut road deaths 'unenforceable'

cyclopath2001

From 'The Examiner', a proposal that's very similar to the 'mandatory helmets for cyclists' debate:

The introduction of mandatory reflective clothing for pedestrians would be impossible to enforce, it was claimed tonight.

Around 64 Irish pedestrians were killed and 1,115 seriously injured in 2003.

The National Safety Council, responding to a call for mandatory reflective clothing from an equipment company, said that while reflective clothing was important for pedestrians, there were far more important issues to concentrate resources on.

“I’m not sure if it’s something that could be enforced,” said spokesman Brian Farrell.

“But people do have a personal responsibility to themselves, particularly in rural areas where there are dark unlit roads late at night.”

He said one simple method of reducing road deaths was for parents to put seat-belts on children in the rear seats of cars, with surveys showing that less than half did so.

A UK Department of Transport report last year stated that 28% of accidents involving a car and a pedestrian could be attributed to either the driver looking but not seeing the pedestrian or to the pedestrian wearing dark or inconspicuous clothing.

3M, a Dublin-based company which manufactures reflective vests, said their mandatory use would reduce the number of pedestrian deaths. There have been 35 pedestrians killed on the roads this year.

“Highly visible reflective vests, complying with European standards, can cost as little as €8 each. Surely this is a very worthwhile investment by every motorist and pedestrian when you consider the number of lives that can be saved?” asked spokesman Don Breen.

murphaph

3M, a Dublin-based company

Since when are the Minesota Mining and Manufacturing Company irish? :rolleyes: I s'pose we Dubs should feel humbled that de paper even acknowledges somewhere beyond the people's republic

Lennoxschips

Perhaps if people stopped driving too fast on the country roads, or if the government installed footpaths, we wouldn't have this problem in the first place.

Mandatory vests for pedestrianists as a serious idea just shows how car culture has gone out of control in Ireland.

Perhaps we should make everyone die their hair orange as well, just in case there's a incompetent driver out there not paying attention to the speed limit.

Gavin

It's not a serious idea ! It's proposed by people that make the bloody vests !!

sceptre

Surely this is a very worthwhile investment by every motorist and pedestrian when you consider the number of lives that can be saved?” asked spokesman Don Breen.

Perhaps I'm missing Dom's point here but why might he think I'd be interested in wearing an orange vest at night while driving my car with the big bright lights front and back?

murphaph wrote:

Since when are the Minesota Mining and Manufacturing Company irish? :rolleyes:

Indeed, though they've officially changed their name to simply 3M these days. They employ 75,000 people worldwide. Of which 60 work for their minor Dublin subsidiary, though not very many of those are based in their modest offices in Dun Laoghaire.

Mind you, it is August - the time of the year when newspapers don't bother checking stuff. I assume the original request was made by runofthemill press release by fax by some geezer who reckoned that August was a good time to get some free press to impress the folks back in St Paul.

Alun

I don't think the article was suggesting that everyone walking around Dublin city centre should wear one of these. Many pedestrian fatalaties occur, as the article points out, in rural areas at night.

Personally, I carry a high-vis vest in my car all the time in case I break down somewhere in the middle of nowhere (which is most places in Ireland) at night. I also think that if I was in the habit of walking along main roads either with no pavement, or only a narrow one at night, that I'd wear one as a matter of course too. It's self preservation, pure and simple. And I really don't care whether it's made in Minnesota, Mullingar or Mumbai quite honestly.

P.S. Did you know that in Spain it's the law that you should carry high-vis vests in the car and wear them when you're out of the car in a breakdown situation? Spanish registered cars have to carry one for every possible passenger in the vehicle, but tourists have a special dispensation and only have to carry one.

gerrydublin

cyclopath2001 wrote:

From 'The Examiner', a proposal that's very similar to the 'mandatory helmets for cyclists' debate:

What will think of next,
reducing the amount of one-off housing in rural Ireland so people don't have to walk out of town along narrow dark roads?
better street lighting?
stricter enforcement against intoxicated drivers?
It's crazy!

As someone who is both a cyclist and a motorist( obviously not simultaneously) I do again with cyclists being made wear made the luminous vests.
However from what I'm told the USI make absolutely NO ATTEMPT to persuade students in UCD to wear them, so if students get it into their heads at an early age not to wear them, it's difficult to change their mindset!

jubbly

bike saftey works in Germany. The police there pull cyclists over if their light doesnt work and if they dont have some kind of reflective garment at night. €25 fines do the job

mackerski

Alun wrote:

P.S. Did you know that in Spain it's the law that you should carry high-vis vests in the car and wear them when you're out of the car in a breakdown situation? Spanish registered cars have to carry one for every possible passenger in the vehicle, but tourists have a special dispensation and only have to carry one.

It's similar in Austria, Italy and Portugal.

Dermot

vector

Yes, if every pedestrian wore EN 471 reflective clothing motorists would see them and deaths would be reduced.

But by how much? The argument advanced by the authors of that article rests on visibility as the deficient variable in accidents, I advance that poor road surfaces and footpaths that are at road level and keep stopping and starting are much of equal and possibly greater significance.

But of the course to address these would require significant and continued local authority and NRA funding.

Road surface quality must be a huge factor in accidents in Ireland. Yes dual carrigeways and motorways are well surface but past that...

Yet nothing is done, why?

Almost everyone reading this has been at east to Britain and driven on lovely 3rd class roads, where a cars suspension (and other things) lasts longer, fuel is saved (no need to brake for bad bits then accelerate back to cruising speed)

cyclopath2001

This was published in today's Irish Independent. They must have had a heavy back-log of press releases & this one just came to the top of the pile:

Reflective vests for pedestrians: call
ALL pedestrians should have to wear reflective vests, it was claimed this week.

Transportation and safety manufacturing company 3M says such vests should also be carried by all drivers as part of a campaign to reduce the numbers of people killed on the side of roads.

Figures for 2003 show 64 pedestrians were killed and 1,115 seriously injured in such circumstances.

Of the 435 pedestrian casualties in darkness in 2003, 33 of were walking against the flow of traffic.

The Indo makes no mention of the NSC's attitude towards 3m's marketing ploy.

sceptre

Alun wrote:

Personally, I carry a high-vis vest in my car all the time in case I break down somewhere in the middle of nowhere (which is most places in Ireland) at night. I also think that if I was in the habit of walking along main roads either with no pavement, or only a narrow one at night, that I'd wear one as a matter of course too. It's self preservation, pure and simple. And I really don't care whether it's made in Minnesota, Mullingar or Mumbai quite honestly.

P.S. Did you know that in Spain it's the law that you should carry high-vis vests in the car and wear them when you're out of the car in a breakdown situation? Spanish registered cars have to carry one for every possible passenger in the vehicle, but tourists have a special dispensation and only have to carry one.

Ah, now that makes sense.

Victor

Who would enforce this? The fashion police?

Figures for 2003 show 64 pedestrians were killed and 1,115 seriously injured in such circumstances.

Lies, damn lies and stupid journalists. Those figures ares totals, not "in such circumstances" (killed on the side of roads).

Of the 435 pedestrian casualties in darkness in 2003, 33 of were walking against the flow of traffic.

Hmmm, thats interesting 92%, people are advised to walk against traffic, I wonder what percentage actually do.

vector

Victor wrote:

...Hmmm, thats interesting 92%, people are advised to walk against traffic, I wonder what percentage actually do.

if a "cyclist" dismounts - to say, walk up a steep hill - he becomes a "pedestrian" but because he just got off a bike he walks with traffic