Russian pedestrians required to wear reflectors

Russian pedestrians walking along the roadside or on the road itself in the dark are now required to wear reflective elements on their clothing. They should be visible in the dark, which has already been a recommendation for some years now. The requirement to wear reflective elements only applies to pedestrians walking along the roadside outside built-up areas. In built-up areas it remains a recommendation rather than a requirement.

This part of the amendment will come into force on 1 July next year. There is a reason for this relatively long delay. First, the new road safety policy must be communicated and explained to pedestrians – not all of them scrutinise amendments to the road traffic regulations. Secondly, there is the now rather pressing issue of supplying the population with reflectors. They are being distributed to schools and nurseries through various campaigns.

It is right that this change is being made to the regulations. Car drivers know that, especially in poor weather conditions, it can often be very difficult to make out a post in the road, let alone a pedestrian. However, there remains the question of where people in rural Russia are going to find and buy these reflectors.

As Rossiskaya gazeta discovered, there are some companies in Russia which are now producing the reflective accessories. However, they are not able to meet the demands of the market, so reflectors will also have to be imported from neighbouring countries. Yet until there are clear requirements or standards for reflective items, large-scale shipments don’t make sense.

It is also important to realise that little old ladies living in rural areas and mechanics from the local collective farm are not going to rush out to buy reflectors. Wages and pensions are so low that people are unlikely to spend their limited resources on these “illuminations”.

There have been plenty of public awareness campaigns in Russia aimed at increasing the popularity of reflectors. It has been said that they should be marketed in the form of trendy “bracelets” or some kind of novelty item which will meet a ready market and generate demand. There is certainly truth in this – young people need to be encouraged to use these safety features. But how will this work with elderly people in remote rural areas?

From 1 July next year, when the amendment on the compulsory wearing of reflectors comes into force, liability for violating the regulation will also be introduced – 500 roubles in accordance with the Code of Administrative Offences.

The second innovation to be incorporated into the regulations is that there will now be a clearer procedure for drivers to follow when approaching an uncontrolled pedestrian crossing. Overtaking on such crossings will be categorically prohibited. Previously, this only applied if there were pedestrians actually on the crossing. (To recap, “overtaking” describes the manoeuvre whereby a car drives past another vehicle travelling in the same direction by moving out into the oncoming lane. Anything else is described as “passing”.)

On approaching an uncontrolled pedestrian crossing, the driver must give way to any pedestrian who is crossing the road or has stepped into the road in order to do so. If any vehicle travelling in the same direction has slowed down or stopped, other drivers must also slow down or stop.

These types of uncontrolled pedestrian crossing are found not only on single-lane roads, but often also on roads with two, three or more lanes. Obviously, pedestrians can’t see what’s happening behind the car they are crossing the road in front of and, similarly, drivers following a car which has slowed down unexpectedly can’t know what is in front of it. The decision to introduce clear guidelines in this regard was taken in order to avoid any ambiguity of interpretation.

• The Mother - TAC Everybody Hurts campaign - The Ripple Effect from admin
  views: 2722
  
• ДТП Маршрутка и 13 пострадавших from admin
  views: 2736
  
• Авария и пробка в Туапсе from admin
  views: 3045
  
• COI - Pier (UK) from admin
  views: 3122
  
• Queensland Transport - Fatal 4 - Tired (Australia) from admin
  views: 4467