More dogs are driven into traffic – this is how you can save their lives

Far more animals than so far lost their lives in traffic. Now insurance company calls to make the animals visible in traffic.

Animals that run freely can be extremely difficult to see in the dark for Danish motorists.

That is why the insurance company Agria Pet Insurance now calls for pet owners to make more of the animals visible in traffic – this could be by equipping them with reflectors and small lights to ensure that motorists may be able to slow down and avoid driving an animal death.

This is stated in a press release.

Violent rise

The call comes after the company can see a 60 percent increase in their injury statistics last year in the number of dogs driven into traffic.

At the same time, it is important to make sure that the reflexes are clean and working properly.

“Most reflexes have a short lifespan. They last for some years, after which they need to be replaced. One can make a quality check of his old reflexes by lighting them with a lamp at a distance of four meters. They need to be lit. Replace the reflectors that appear worn. With a good reflective material, we can save our four-legged friends from road accidents,” says Tine Antvorskov, director of Agria Animal Insurance.

Agria Animal Insurance states that a good reflex can be seen at least 125 meters away.

Their advice to the pet owners is as follows:

Combine reflections with a small lamp on the animal. It is smart in that the reflex becomes visible when it is hit by light, while the light will be visible when it is completely dark.

If your dog has a large coat, a reflective vest is the most visible type of reflection.

Remember that the reflective vest is only visible on the sides of the animal and thus not front and rear.

Use a dog line with reflectors in for the walks in the dark.

Cats thrive best with a reflex collar combined with a small lantern.

It is also important that you wear reflections on your clothes when you walk in the dark.

How to behave on the road, driving a motorcycle?

Hundreds of new motorcycles are registered annually at UBDD. At the same time, an increase in the number of cases of traffic accidents involving two-wheeled vehicles is also recorded (the figure is almost doubled every year).

The Central Internal Affairs Directorate of Tashkent shared some recommendations both for owners of “iron horses” and for other road users.

Motorcyclists, in comparison with other drivers, are at greater risk – they are more difficult to notice on the road because of the size, and in the event of an accident, the lack of a body gives increased trauma. Therefore, they need to have exceptional technical knowledge and driving skills. Motorcyclists can help drivers and other road users in different ways notice them on the road on time, including:

Put on a reflective jacket, reflective vest, and helmet in a bright color;

Use reflective elements;

Avoid blind spots of other vehicles,

When driving in the aisle, choose the optimal speed situation (including, do not slow down the movement in blind zones),

Apply high beam headlights during daylight hours,

Blink a stop signal before braking.

As for motorists, they must follow the rules of the road, since two-wheeled vehicles can be noticed by them too late.

The recommendations are as follows:

When changing lanes or entering a busy highway, make sure there are no motorbikes nearby. Motorcycles are small and therefore can easily be in the blind zone.

When following or near a motorcyclist, keep a distance that you can travel in 4 seconds. If a motorcyclist suddenly brakes or falls from a motorcycle into your lane, this distance will help to avoid hitting him.

Give the motorcycle the full width of the lane. Sharing one lane with him is unsafe.

Never try to overtake a motorcycle while on the same lane.

If possible, move to one side of the lane to provide the rider with enough space to overtake.

When planning a turn or a U-turn, check if there are any motorcyclists nearby and evaluate their speed.

Take a close look if there are any motorcyclists nearby before opening the door while in the traffic area or turning right.

Take into account road conditions such as potholes, gravel, wet or slippery road surfaces, connecting seams of road surfaces, level crossings and corrugated asphalt. For a motorcyclist, they are dangerous, so he can dramatically change the speed or direction of movement.

Did you know that the reflexes also go out of date?

Autumn means that it is dark in the early morning and evening. Also, there can be extra demanding driving conditions, with rain and wet roads that almost extinguish all light.

Under such conditions, it is of utmost importance that all pedestrians use reflexes.

Statistics from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration show that a third of pedestrian accidents occur in the dark. In the period 2005 to 2014, 40 percent of traffic accidents involving pedestrians occurred in the dark.

During the same period, statistics show that half of the pedestrians who died in road accidents did not use reflective vests.

It’s not just food that has the best before date. Reflections are also fresh and should be replaced more often than many people think. Bad reflexes can be dangerous to traffic, Tryg Forsikring believes.

“This is because you behave differently when you think you are protected from reflex. According to the road authorities, reflex has a life span of over three years. Reflections on children often get harsh momentum through play. And if you, as an adult, have the reflex in your pocket along with car keys, there is often so much scratching in the reflex that the effect deteriorates considerably. At our home we exchange reflexes every fall,” says Espen Opedal, manager of Tryg Forsikring.

Thursday, October 17 is National Reflection Day this year. The use of reflex reduces the risk of being hit in the dark by 85 percent. Even if you see the car, it is difficult for the motorist to see you if you are walking in the dark without reflex. The little lifeguard is cheap life insurance.

“If you walk along the road in the dark without reflex, you are first visible to the motorist at a distance of 25 meters. With reflex, you will be seen at 140 meters distance, with a dipped beam. A driver at 50 km / h thus has ten seconds instead of two seconds to respond. It can be the difference between life and death. Therefore, you should spend 15 seconds wearing one or more reflexes before going out in the dark,” says Opal, in a press release.

How do you check if the old reflex still works properly?

“All worn reflectors have a reduced effect, including integrated reflections in children’s and exercise clothes, which are often subject to wear through rough use, and which are washed frequently. To check if the reflex is still good, test in a dark room. Light the reflex with a flashlight and compare it with a new reflex. Those who reflect light poorly should be replaced,” says Opal.

Most accidents happen in cities when people cross the street. Lights from cars and shop windows compete for attention and make it difficult to see pedestrians without reflective materials.

Many people think that reflective tapes are not necessary when walking in areas with street lights. That’s wrong. When it is dark outside, it is difficult for the motorist to see you, even in street lighting. If it also rains, it is even harder to see you along the way.

Surveys conducted by Trygg Trafikk show that only 4 out of 10 adults use reflex. The worst adults are over 30 years of age. The best are children.

At night, on an empty road, traffic police wave me. And if you do not slow down?

An unlit night track with rare foci of civilization does not cause any desire to once again slow down and even more so get out of the car. There is no choice when the law requires it.

If I caught up with a DPS car, is it worth it to overtake?

The main document for the driver is SDA. Clause 6.11 establishes that “the request to stop the vehicle is made using a loud-speaking device or with a gesture of a hand aimed at the vehicle,” and the driver must stop at the place indicated to him.” There are no restrictions on the type of road and time of day. It is understood that the patrol works to ensure traffic safety, and if it stops in case of doubtful circumstances for the driver, there is a good reason.

Clause 1.2 of the SDA describes what the traffic controller should look like when serving. The presence of uniforms and/or a distinctive sign and equipment is mandatory. Regulators include police and military vehicle inspectors, road maintenance workers, duty officers at railway crossings and ferry crossings in the exercise of their duties, authorized persons from among the employees of transport security units.

As you can see, the list is quite extensive, and some of them have all the “distinctive” features except a reflective vest. Of course, you need to act on the situation. If a road worker is persistently waving at you, and behind him, you can see an ice rink standing across the road, it is worth fulfilling his requirements. But if a dubious person waves a rod on an empty road, standing near an ordinary car, this is a completely different matter.

You can look at the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 664, in other words – the rules of the traffic police. Paragraph 62 reports that “the place, time, forms and methods of monitoring traffic by employees are determined by the head of the traffic police unit”. Paragraph 65 already explicitly states that work at night is by no means forbidden: “In the dark and conditions of limited visibility, an employee must have a luminous wand (wand with retro-reflective material elements) and retro-reflective equipment.”

Verification is inevitable: which cars are most often stopped by traffic cops

Clause 84 of the same regulation lists 14 reasons for stopping a vehicle. Again, without reservation at the place and time of day. If “there is reason to believe,” a traffic inspector can stop you anywhere. It is stipulated that the stopping place should be selected taking into account the requirements of traffic rules. But it is possible to brake cars in forbidden places if traffic safety is ensured (for example, by the flashing lights of an official car).

If you still found the traffic cops to be potentially dangerous and ignored their demands, they can only pursue you on a patrol car with a special light and sound signals turned on (paragraph 96 of the regulations). You can watch in a personal car, but you can’t chase it.

The good old recommendation to go to the nearest stationary post is now completely useless due to the almost complete absence of these same posts. Faster and more logical in this case, turn into the nearest settlement with the police department.

Finally, we recall that under article 12.25.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, failure to comply with the lawful requirement of a police officer to stop is punishable by a fine of 500-800 rubles.

Can traffic police fine for lack of a vest

“Should a reflective vest become a mandatory item in the baggage of the driver,” says DEITA.RU.

Explanations regarding vests should be started on December 12, 2017, when the government amended the traffic rules section, which regulates the duties of drivers by the new paragraph 2.3.4, which states that in the case of an emergency stop or accident in the city at night or in conditions limited visibility while on the roadway or curb, the driver must be dressed in a jacket, vest or wrap vest with stripes of retro-reflective material.

These amendments entered into force in March last year.

Thus, the mere absence of a vest in a car is not a violation and is not punishable by fines. Experts note that the reverse information that the fine still exists is artificially supported by sellers of these vests.

At the same time, close attention should be paid to the fact that a fine is provided for a driver leaving a car without a reflective vest with reflective tape, outside the city, at night or in conditions of limited visibility. In this case, indeed, such a driver will be fined 500 rubles.

But a fine of 1000 rubles is provided under the same conditions, but already in the event of an accident. If the driver responsible for the accident walks around the car without a vest, he will be fined.

In other words, it turns out that until the driver stopped at night in the forest and got out of the car without a vest, he did not violate anything. If he had to stop and he went out without a vest – then he will be fined, which will be doubled in case of an accident. So just in case, you need to have a vest in the car, but its absence is not necessary until the conditions specified above are met, it is not punishable by a fine.