"It doesn't matter if you look like a Christmas tree, only you can see," says Camilla Fri-Bergström at the Raseborg police. Without reflexes, you melt into the surroundings, at least sixth grade in the Katarina school in Karis.
The darkness came so suddenly that Freija Kauranen did not react. No later than next week when it closes further, she will be digging reflective bands and washers. In addition, she sometimes dresses up a reflective vest.
But only when Mom forces, she adds whispering.
Here in Katarina school in Karis, it is a matter of course to use reflex. The sixth grade Freija Kauranen, Linus Wiklund and Arvid Hanell do not show the slightest hint of attitude problems when it comes to being safe in traffic. It's cool to be safe. But what about the external requirements?
"Using reflex is a matter of course, but it should preferably not look anyway," Kauranen says.
Both Arvid Hansell and Linus Wiklund are both good users of reflective vests and other smaller reflections. What you look like is secondary when it comes to security.
It's still dark so no one sees one.
Christmas trees welcome
In Katarina school, the attitude is admirable, but everywhere people are not as positively inclined to use reflex. For older artisan Camilla Fri-Bergström at the Raseborg police, the darkness is an annually recurring theme, if possible even more so than for others.
Then Fri-Bergström writes on the Raseborg Police's Facebook page on a Tuesday morning in October. The rain, the fog, and the dark have entered the classic October manners, and it is noticeable in the traffic.
Children's reflexes are especially important to think about, she says - the family's smallest can behave erratically in traffic. Here the constable points to the parents' responsibility. Regardless of whether the reflex is seen as a factor, it is a must for anyone who wants to be different from the environment.
It doesn't matter if you look like a Christmas tree, only you can see.
The darkness is a national phenomenon but affects at the local level. In Raseborg taxi drivers who pick up schoolchildren in the mornings have wished that all children should wear reflective vests with reflective tapes in order to appear better.
But also as an adult, it is important to think about their own safety. Fog and bad before, as well as the dark, affect how you view and street lights do not help the situation noticeably despite the fact that many believe it. Something should be blinking for you to appear, says the constable.
Without reflex, you often become a small, gray spot in the surroundings.
A citizen informed the police of an adult who rode the country road - without reflexes. Here, according to Camilla Fri-Bergström, this is a common attitude problem - you think you are seen but the reality is another. In the dark, only what is illuminated by the headlights is visible.
Common sense applies
The truth is also crass in numbers. The driver in a car with the half-light switched on will see a pedestrian on an average of fifty meters away. If the pedestrian carries a reflex, it is visible at a distance of 350 meters. With the main beam turned on, the reflex is even more efficient. The law states that pedestrians should use reflective materials - yet half of Finns do not do so, according to information from the Swedish Transport Safety Agency.
"This applies to common sense: use reflexes for others in the traffic to see you," says Camilla Fri-Bergström.
Even in the enlightened urban environment, it can be difficult to get a view of cyclists and pedestrians. Immune windows, shadows from bushes and trees and various light sources can affect the field of view. Dirty windscreens and bad lanterns can further aggravate the situation.
Since 2003, it has been mandatory to use reflex in the enlightened urban environment. In a new proposal for road traffic law, the reflex section still shines with its absence - something that has caused the Swedish Transport Administration to shudder.
"The statutory is a guideline also for media and education, private individuals and municipalities. No one has been disturbed by the rule for 35 years," says CEO Anna-Liisa Tarvainen in a press release.
And although the law recommends the use of reflex, the one who does not meet meets some penalties.
"If you get hit, it doesn't matter if you wear reflexes or not when looking at potential benefits. The circumstances determine: has the person gone on the right side of the road? Everyone has an obligation to follow the rules in this respect," says Ola Lindholm, whoever goes on the wrong side of the road may have been involved and caused the accident.
Fortunately, such accidents are relatively few and emphasize that generalizing rules are difficult to give since nothing is black and white.
Ola Lindholm herself thinks that a single reflex is not worth much - here is the reflective vest that applies.
It is quite lean with a reflex that dangles at knee height when moving on a dark road.
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