Since January, reflective elements are mandatory.
It was Friday afternoon, only five hours. It was dark when the 21-year-old was driving a Fiat Ducato. By car, he headed from Čechyniec to Golianov.
A man went along the same road, pushing a cart in front of him. The young man in Fiat, however, did not notice him at all and took the man in full speed. The walker died after the crash.
Reflective tape in the pocket did not save the life
Police assume that the driver did not pay enough attention to driving and did not monitor traffic properly. But the dark figure with a cart did not have to be seen by the chauffeur, even if he had devoted himself properly to the traffic.
The man was walking between two villages in the dark. He had no reflective elements on his clothes that could strike the chauffeur's eyes and make him slow the car and turn the steering wheel so he couldn't catch the man with the wheelchair.
However, the walker was not entirely without reflective tape. They found her in his coat pocket. "Maybe he could have saved his life," admits Bozena Bruchter, a spokeswoman for the regional police.
Without the risk of taping, we risk
Traffic experts have long said that moving on a dark road without a distinctive glaring outfit or tiny reflective strips on any outfit equals gambling with one's own life.
This is also pointed out by the police, who tried to prepare people for the obligation to wear reflective elements on their clothes, even in towns or villages. This is valid from January and who fails to do so, in addition to their own lives, also fines up to 60 €.
Reflective elements visibly affixed to clothing or directly reflective safety clothing shall be worn by any pedestrian or cyclist in a poorly visible area, following the side or edge of the roadway. "Pedestrians have a new obligation to do this in the municipality if they are on the road - in places where there are no pedestrian paths," Bruchterová points out.
Reflective elements already in clothing
Several addressed residents of the region admitted that although they had heard of the obligation to wear a reflective element, they did not dare to wear tape or vest. "I don't understand why I should be walking around town. And I don't even know where to get such a tape, I haven't registered it in stores," Eva, 30, said.
Jana from Párovce, on the other hand, says that they sell reflective elements in several shops. "I'm sure they're in supermarkets," she said.
According to the teacher Maria, many traders have started to place reflective strips directly on pieces of clothing, especially children's clothing. "I've seen them on jackets or sneakers."
Student Jakub is from Jelenec and, as he says, in the area where he lives, there are sidewalks. Even in parts of the village without trails, however, Jakub did not notice that people were wearing reflective tapes.
Reflective elements were lacking in stores mainly at the beginning of the year when changes began to apply. However, merchants are gradually adding these goods. Walking people in risky areas are much more interested in belts, preferring them to reflective vests. They are small and easy to wrap around your arm or foot.
Many of the law has not yet registered or ignored it. This is confirmed by the police, which since the beginning of the year in the Nitra region have taken ten preventive actions aimed at wearing reflective elements.
"In most cases, pedestrians and cyclists do not respect this law. As if they didn't realize how they gamble with their health and life. However, this indifferent behavior also threatens the drivers who see unmarked people on the road at the last minute," the spokeswoman of the regional police said.
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