To be seen saves lives – the history of the reflex movement
Although I worked with visibility and reflexes (as a salesman and marketer in one of Sweden’s leading companies in the field of reflex manufacturing) I did not think so much about how I myself appeared for motorists. It doesn’t matter much, I thought. I see the cars and don’t have to go out into the street if there is a car. Although I always bore reflexes on me, I noticed that not many adults did so for the same reason.
I worked for several years with selling reflexes to stores and also noticed that the interest was pretty cool. No store invested in reflections or cared much about them. Neither they nor I really understood why reflections are so important.
Until I myself drove a car and was driving a man. The person went along a country road that I drive every week, to get to the stable where I take riding lessons. It is a narrow road without road lighting and it is crowded to meet cars. A little further on a straight, I see that there is an oncoming car. I keep myself far out of the way so that the meeting is easy. All of a sudden, as of nowhere, a person comes straight to me. It is a man who is out with his dog. At the same time, the oncoming car is getting closer. I hesitate and manage to stop the car on the roadside just in time to not drive the man with his dog. He cabins with my fist to me and calls me speed.
I kept low speed, below the allowed speed, when I planned for the meeting with the other driver. The person with the dog did not seem at all. Neither he nor the dog had reflections on them. Only when they were about 10-20 meters in front of me I see them. Just too short distance! I am extremely happy that I succeeded in stopping the car and very grateful that I kept a low speed.
This incident made me think carefully about this with visibility in traffic. The person in question saw me clearly and wondered why I was aiming to drive him. He did not see the car approaching behind him and for which I created meeting rooms. It made me realize that I cannot rely on myself alone. I need help from motorists by making me visible to them. I started working on teaching store staff and individuals how important it is with reflective materials. Interest was raised and more and more people began to understand that it is important to use reflexes. But reflexes were perceived as boring and there were not so many stores that wanted to take in and sell reflexes. The company I was working on did not sell to the final consumer.
I decided to open my own reflex shop. There was not a single reflex shop in the country (or the world) so it may not be so strange that reflections are not perceived as important (or fun). Numerous I drive Reflex movement which both informs about the important function of the reflex and sells all kinds of reflections, directly to the end users. Interest became enormous and I created collaborations with more manufacturers to get as wide a range as possible. Now everyone can easily and easily provide the type of reflex that is best suited for him or her. We have reflective vests and caps with reflectors, hanging reflectors, magnetic reflexes, hard reflections, soft reflections, reflections for dogs, reflex stickers…
My vision is to get adults to use reflexes to a greater extent. Parents are very good at providing their young children with reflections and children’s outerwear often have reflective fabrics. Onus adults (and young people), the clothes are often dark, so reflections make great use of us. Even if you live in illuminated urban areas you need reflexes. I, who is now extremely aware that there may be people I do not see the longest way, have had to slow down hard even at illuminated pedestrian crossings, just because I did not see the person who started to cross the road. Then it is important to understand that reflections are needed all year and not just in winter.
Being seen really saves the life!