Should kids wear safety vests for road safety on their way to school as in France ? (accidents, family)
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Not just kids, but for reasons of safety, motorist are required to have those vests at all times(not sure if it's wide spread EU regulation now, was in France. at the time I was there), in their car...if there is accident or u have to stop for emergency u are required to wear one...they are trying to prevent accidents...as so many ppl are dying tragically, standing besides their vehicles in dark or when visibility is bad...
long time ago when I was a kid (in my home country)and taking in cosideration that most kids walk to and from the school...in first and second grade, we are wearing reflective scarfs...
Yeah, those vests are required to be in the car in a lot of countries in Europe. Most Americans are not familiar with that, because they don't travel beyond their local gas station.
Of course, in this country "we" believe that anything the Europeans do (especially the French) is inherently "absurd."
"We" would rather our children die than look "stupid" in a safety vest.
My kids walk to and from school. They have reflective tape on their back packs and their shoes even though it isn't dark when they are walking and they stay on sidewalks all the way.
We live in a university town and I'm amazed at the number of cyclists who wear dark clothing with no reflection lights on bikes or clothing. how stupid.
We have reflective vests in both cars in case of accident at night. Very cheap and have come in handy before.
Thank you for posting this. My daughter has been wanting to walk to school, but there are no sidewalks (very wide grassy right-of-way next to the street though). I hadn't thought about reflective vests before, and I'll be buying one of these for her before I allow her to walk.
Little kids often wear those vests here when walking to school (they have cute ones with cartoon characters on for the little ones) and its definitely needed in the winter when its going to be dark walking to and from school. Older kids (and some adults too) have little reflectors tied to their coats because they wouldn't be seen dead wearing those vests (though actually I did see two adults or possibly teenagers wearing them today but maybe they had been doing some road side work or something)
It gets dark early here in the winter and I certainly wish more of the school aged and college students would wear something reflective! It seems like many here think that one measly strip of reflective tape is enough to see them. It's an urban area with busy streets and many blinding headlights. I find that many pedestrians don't realize that just because they're in a crosswalk doesn't mean that drivers can see them (or how much length they need to stop!) and having safety jackets would certainly help there.
France has much shorter daylight hours in winter, Paris is further north than any city in the lower 48, and Monte Carlo on the Mediterranean is as far north as Milwaukee, and have correspondingly short hours of daylight. It is dark in midwinter when kids in France go to school, or go home, or both.
And, in France, the roads and streets are much narrower than in the USA. So something that would make sense in France might just be meaningless overkill in America because the conditions are so different.
From the end of October till March it is pitch dark until well after the kids are in school. Often foggy, rainy or snowy (or all of the above) Lots of kids walking to school or the bus or train stop. It is not mandatory but most parents put reflective stuff on there kids, I think in some areas it may be mandatory. Teens mostly reject wearing it but hopefully they are a bit more aware.
And, in France, the roads and streets are much narrower than in the USA. So something that would make sense in France might just be meaningless overkill in America because the conditions are so different.
Narrow streets would slow cars and shorten the distance pedestrians cross, wouldn't that make things safer?
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, was in France. at the time I was there), in their car...if there is accident or u have to stop for emergency u are required to wear one...they are trying to prevent accidents...as so many ppl are dying tragically, standing besides their vehicles in dark or when visibility is bad...
