A Pedestrian reflector saves lives!
Growing up in Sweden I am used to see the reflection light of pedestrian reflectors in the evening. The reflectors have in fact been used all over Scandinavia for over 40 years and have proved to cut down the number of accidents between pedestrian and motor vehicle to half. Today personal pedestrian reflectors are used in many countries in the world and they are a cheap life insurance! After living in Seychelles for some year I saw how unprotected pedestrian are here especially after darkness. The winding roads without sidewalks, increasing traffic and speed, makes it dangerous to be pedestrian.
The roads are not safe, especially after nightfall, but also in twilight and daylight, during the rainy season.
This was the run up to start the project “Be Visible Be Safe!” a road safety project for children in Primary Schools in Seychelles.Children are the most vulnerable of the pedestrians. Small children because of their size and that their cognitive and perceptual abilities not are fully developed.
Our goal is to make a safer road environment for children. Both human suffering and the costs for the society in form of hospital care, disabilities etc. can be reduced by introducing and encouraging children to use a pedestrian reflector.
Children have the right to safe environments.
Injuries are one of the biggest threats against children’s health and life today. Injuries contribute to a big load on the health care system and not least the humanitarian costs for the family and the child.
Every year, nearly 1 million children die from injuries. Tens of millions more require hospital care for non-fatal injuries. Many are left with permanent disabilities or brain damage. More children die of injuries than die of cancer, asthma and infectious diseases combined. Injuries affect children of all ages. Girls and boys under 5 years of age are at particular risk, more boys than girls. The most common injuries are traffic injuries, burns and falls, poisoning and drowning. Traffic injuries are the leading causes of injuries and death among children. Convention of the Rights of the Child art. 24 state, that children have the right to safe environments. Every day children are hurt when interacting with products in their daily environments and many environments that children are exposed to contain various dangers that could lead to severe or fatal injuries. For children between 0- 5 years old, the most common place where they get injured is in or around their homes.
The good thing is that most of the injuries can be prevented!
Prevention requires carefully supervising of children and keeping them away from dangers, such as cooking fires, water sources, places where they can fall, roads and items that can poison, choke or hurt them.
Car safety seats, pedestrian reflectors, bike helmets, safety equipment for the home and safe toys are some of the things that can help to prevent injuries and death among children.
