Seen leaving the pub!
Someone wearing a high-visibility jacket will be clearly seen by an oncoming car nearly four lengths of a football pitch away (500 metres). This gives a driver plenty of time to react to someone’s presence on the road.
If not wearing any reflective material the same car will only see you when you are a distance of 50 metres or half a football pitch away.
“VFI and its members are to be commended for supporting this life-saving project,” commented RSA Chief Executive Moyagh Murdock, “The campaign is designed to improve safety and educate vulnerable road-users of the need to be seen in order to be safe on Irish country roads.
“This time of the year is traditionally a high-risk period for walkers and cyclists as poor light and weather conditions make road use more dangerous.
“The way the scheme will operate is simple. High-visibility vests will be available for patrons of pubs right across the country to use if they’re walking or cycling home from the pub. All we would ask is that they return them on the next visit to the pub for others to use.”
VFI Chief Executive Padraig Cribben added, “If just one of the 50,000 high-visibility vests saves a life it’ll be a worthwhile exercise. The dark winter nights are particularly perilous for pedestrians so we will be advising our customers to use these vests.
“I’ve also been assured by the RSA that if any of our members require further quantities of jackets they will be happy to provide them free of charge.”