“It’s very important to make yourself visible. The most effective are the retro-reflective strips“, explained Saturday, October 29 on franceinfo Anne Lavaud, general delegate of the Road Prevention association which, like every year, warns of the danger of the time change.
>> Time change: is it still effective in saving energy?
franceinfo: Is this a more dangerous moment than another?
Anne Lavaud: This is the moment when the sharing of the street and the road takes on a new twist because you have to come to terms with the night. These are much more accident-prone times. For pedestrians, between October and January, this concentrates 43% of pedestrian mortality. 60% of fatal accidents involving scooter users take place at night. So the night parameter is important.
What is the problem ?
Night falls earlier, so the peak travel times are gradually falling into the night. We don’t realize that we have to be visible, that we have to pay attention to others and check our night vision abilities. We questioned the French and 58% of them say they feel a danger in relation to this night traffic.
What advice do you give to limit accidents?
The Road Prevention association, like every year, sets up workshops to check vision and lighting elements whether you are motorists, pedestrians or cyclists. When you are pedestrians, scooter riders or cyclists, you have to make yourself visible. When you are just wearing your coat, you are visible from 30 meters away by a motorist. If we have retro-reflective elements, we are visible at 150 meters. You should know that, at 50 km/h, a car on dry ground takes more than 30 meters to stop. So, it is very important to make yourself visible. The most effective are the retro-reflective strips.
Are you in favor of municipalities maintaining public lighting even if there are few people?
We have a label called “Cautious towns and villages” which labels all the municipalities that act in terms of road risk prevention. We met to find out how we could deal with energy sobriety and risk prevention for street and road users. It turns out to be a no-brainer that all obstacles, baffles, flower pots should be fitted with retro-reflective elements so that if the street light is out, they can be seen.