In Hilden, Monday, 37 preschool children were made fit for traffic. Because many people are attracted to dark and they are poorly visible.
Only last Friday it happened again – a six-year-old boy was hit on the way to school in Warmers by a car. He walked carelessly on the street and was seen too late by a driver. Luckily, he was only slightly injured. Nevertheless, the police took the case as an opportunity to make the parents of schoolchildren once again to draw attention to the fact that the children should wear brighter and reflective clothing.
The purpose is also followed by the series “Glitter in the Dark”, which stopped at the Caritas day care center on Monday. Thirty-seven preschool children between the ages of five and six were playfully prepared for the road – especially in terms of colors and reflectors.
“It’s amazing how few children wear reflectors.”
“I can see Finn’s jacket best,” cried the children, as they stood in the darkened dining room of the daycare in jackets and winter boots and the beam of flashlights fell on the bright green of the winter jacket. Other kids thought it best to see Thales’s jacket – a light purple model with reflective stripes.
The group of Finn and Thales is the third, which is guided by the program of the traffic guard on this day. “That’s a very good group,” says Andrea from the kindergarten – she means both the colors of the clothes and the attention of the children. Karoline Starch-Schmitz, managing director of the traffic department, agrees. In contrast, it is surprising how many children still wear dark or black jackets. “It’s amazing how few children wear reflectors,” she says. The problem is especially the parents, who draw their children too dark clothes. “Parents attract children like little adults.”
Also in this group, there were some dark blue or black jackets. Light, reflective jacket is so important, says Karoline Starch-Schmitz. The accident figures with children had gone up. That is why the children should be sensitized. Therefore, you could also put pressure on the parents. “We can hardly reach it otherwise.”