Living in northern Europe, we know how dark it gets in the autumn and winter. There is no excuse not to wear reflectors in order to be visible in the dark. Surprisingly numbers from Norwegian Counsil for Road Safety shows that only 39 percent of adults in Norway uses reflectors or garments with reflective elements. Luckily, we are better at putting reflectors on our kids. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement here as well.
When a car comes driving towards you with the low beam lights on, you will be visible at a 150-yard distance. Without wearing any reflectors, the number is 80-100 feet; this distance is not long enough to stop the car. Converted to seconds 150 yards equals 10 seconds, while 80-100 feet only gives the driver 2 seconds to respond. To state that the use of reflectors can be the difference between life and death is therefore no exaggeration.
I can see the car, so then the driver must see me?
Perhaps you have played hide and seek with small kids before and seen how they can stand with their backs towards you and believe that they are not showing because they cannot see you. “I don’t see you, so you don’t see me” logic works poorly, also in the traffic. Even if you as a pedestrian see the car, you may not be as visible to the driver. Therefore, do not be fooled by street lights, and be sure to use reflectors when its dark outside, whether you are walking along a dark forest road or an illuminated city street. Even in the spring and summer it gets quite dark, so do not put your reflectors away even though its summer.
Check the reflectors together with the kids
There is a lot of small tricks you can do to secure both your own and the kid’s visibility in the traffic. The best way to test if a reflector is working properly is to bring it with you into a dark room and light it with a flashlight. As adults, we are important role models for the kids; they mimic both our behavior and our attitude. Therefore, it is important that you, yourself wear as many reflectors as the kids.
Shoes with reflective elements
A simple way to make the kids more visible in the traffic is to provide them with shoes with reflectors on them. The advantages of having reflectors on the shoes is that reflectors in movement is very visible. The effect of having avid children’s feet covered in reflective elements is huge, and it is a great supplement to a reflector on a jacket and backpack.
Viking have several kids’ shoes where large areas of the shoes are covered with reflective elements; see for example our winter boot Halden with GORE-TEX or Play II with GORE-TEX.
Helpful reflector tips
Here is a list with other important reflector tips:
- Make sure you use CE marked reflectors. The CE mark is a seal of approval and allows you to be sure you are visible in the dark.
- Use a reflector that moves as you walk, and hang it from your backpack, purse or jacket so that it hangs at knee height. Make sure you always have at least two reflectors on you so that you are visible from all angles.
- Replace your reflectors regularly. Reflection is a commodity, and scratches and so on weakens the reflection. When you see that the reflector is well used its time to replace it. In addition, washed reflectors should be replaced. A reflective vest has lost many of its reflective qualities after 20 washes.
- Attach reflectors on all jackets, backpacks and bags, so you have them as insurance if you happen to forget your own reflector one day.
