Road Safety Blog

NGO strives to make more reflective materials available to Pedestrians

jonckie

Car crashes are the leading external cause of death for children. (NIMSS, 2012)

The most vulnerable road users are pedestrians, the most vulnerable pedestrians are children, and the most vulnerable children are the young children of the poor.

Over 17,000 people die on South African roads every year. Of these 17,000, 2,883 are children, out of which nearly 65% are pedestrians. (Health, 2012) Children from the lower income families are five times more likely to be killed on the roads as pedestrians than their peers from the higher income groups. Our most vulnerable road users are pedestrians, the most vulnerable pedestrians are children and the most vulnerable children are from our low-income communities. (WC Government)

Children are more vulnerable due to their size relative to vehicles, their skeletons not being fully ossified and their inability to assess risk.

Statistics indicate that even though there are fewer people moving in traffic at night, 65% of all fatal pedestrian accidents happen at night. The risk of a pedestrian being hit by a vehicle is increased 1,100 % during the hours of dusk, dawn and night. However, the risk of a pedestrian being hit during the hours of dusk, dawn and night is reduced by 85% if the pedestrian is wearing reflective gear. Under normal dark conditions, a pedestrian walking on the side of a road is visible to a car from a distance of 10 to 60 meters. However, if a pedestrian is wearing a safety reflector, he or she would be visible from a distance of 120 to 160 meters.

In countries where the pedestrian use of reflective gear is widespread, the night time injury and the death rate are as low as 30%.

The use of reflective gear would not only save pedestrian lives but would also save drivers from the potential emotional pain, inconvenience, and danger of hitting a pedestrian, as well as possible criminal charges. If a driver kills a pedestrian at night, the driver may be charged with culpable homicide, even though 80% of drivers involved in pedestrian collisions, never saw the pedestrian they hit.

Solutions

To ensure a safer pedestrian population, Wheel Well is manufacturing a range of products that will make children a lot more visible to motorists. These include

Beanies and scarves with reflective trim

To ensure a safer pedestrian population, Wheel Well is manufacturing beanies and scarves with reflective trims. The beanies and scarves will keep children and adults warm as well as lighting them up for all to see. The beanies and scarves come in black, navy, dark green, gray and Maroon with green reflective trim. They are non-toxic and washable. One size fits all. The summer hats are cool and will keep the sun off the faces of our little beloveds and they are still lit up in the headlights for all to see.

Case Studies

Reflective and high visibility clothing have become a standard in industries where employees are working amongst vehicles. Is the leap to equipping our children with this type of clothing not logical? Please see link below for case studies. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-visibility_clothing)

Eldorado Park Primary School – Case study

On 18 November 2014, I was contacted by Joggie Fortuin, a concerned resident of Mahonie Crescent in Eldorado Park. Yet another child has been killed on the road she lives on by a speeding driver and the community has had enough. They have started to dig a trench across the road to slow motorists down. There are no road signs, markings or any traffic calming measures on Mahoney Crescent. It is a long straight road that serves as a main through fare. The pavement on the one side is paved but is used as parking areas. This forces the children to walk on the road. They also have to cross the Golden Highway and two major intersections en-route to school. There are no pedestrian crossings. Since this incident, 2 more children dies that I am aware of.

Retroflective gear will give the children higher visibility, motorists will notice children better, and injury or even death will be averted.

1400 Hi Viz Reflective beanie will be distributed at Eldridge Primary school. We will follow up in 3 months and a year later to see what impact the beanies have had.

All projects are reported to the SA Guild of Motoring Journalists for distribution to their members.

All sponsors and funders of the Project will receive a full report covering the implementation, duration and impact studies after 3 months and a year from implementation.

All Project are highlighted on Social Media.

Much love

Peggie Mars

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