Month: February 2021

Pedestrians must wear reflectors

In Ukraine, on Wednesday, November 25, several changes to the Road Traffic Rules (SDA), concerning drivers, passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians, came into force.

So, earlier, taxi drivers and passengers while driving in the village, and driving instructors and outside, could not use seat belts. According to the new rules, they must be fastened, according to the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the telegram channel.

“This rule obliges taxi drivers to ensure the presence of seat belts in both the front and back seats and to remind passengers of the need to use them. Only drivers and passengers with disabilities are allowed not to wear them in the village if this is physiologically impossible, as well as drivers and passengers. operational and special vehicles “, – the message emphasizes.

Also, the rule on the prohibition to change the size, shape, markings, color, and location of license plates, to apply additional marks on them, or to close them comes into force. Rooms must be clean and well-lit.

Cyclists, according to the new rules, are allowed to move along the lane for route vehicles.

Pedestrians must use reflective elements at night and in poor visibility conditions.

“At night and in conditions of insufficient visibility, pedestrians who move along the carriageway or shoulder must use reflective elements (reflective tape, sticker, vest, etc.) or wear clothing that has reflective elements. This is specified in paragraph .4.4 SDA of Ukraine “, emphasized in the ministry.

See and be seen! A fluorescent vest to save pedestrians

“1% reflective vest” among pedestrians walking by the side of the road at night. This is the result of a road safety awareness operation on Friday evening in Les Abymes. Departmental workers distributed reflective vests to pedestrians on Perrin road.

 

“20% in black clothes. 50% in the variegated outfit. 29% in bright clothing and 1% reflective vest”. This is the report drawn up by the departmental teams as part of the Security Meetings, Friday evening, in Abymes, during a free distribution of fluorescent vests on the road to Perrin. The message delivered: “see and be seen! To avoid any accident.”

 

Orange reflective vests were thus distributed to pedestrians. Sunday walkers or informed runners the goal is to protect themselves and make themselves as visible as possible, explains Didier Pitchy, departmental road safety worker for Guadeloupe: “above all, above all, it is not to wear dark costumes!”

 

“A vehicle, dressed in black, it is 30 meters of visibility that it has on you, 50 meters if you have a T-shirt or white pants, and 150 meters if you have the fluorescent vest”.

 

“It costs you nothing”, insists this former gendarme who deplores that some put their “elegance” before their safety.

 

Catherine likes to walk in the early morning, “around 5 am”, on deep-sea roads “to stay in shape” and recognizes that she ended up putting on a fluorescent vest because “the cars are sometimes not careful, you have to. stand on the low side to let them pass”.

 

“We have to go in the wrong direction; when the cars go up, I get off,” she advises for greater safety.

 

Didier Pitchy reminds pedestrians to circulate in suitable areas, motorists to “turn on their headlights” as soon as daylight decreases, and cyclists to “signal themselves” especially when they are traveling at night.

 

Since the start of the year, 6 pedestrians and 4 cyclists have been killed on our roads. The so-called vulnerable users (on foot or two wheels) represent 62% of deaths on Guadeloupe roads.

Mandatory mask in the car?

Mandatory mask in the car? The government in Berlin has such a plan – not only in the time of the pandemic. However, this does not mean that every driver will have to cover his face always and everywhere. The mask is supposed to be like … a reflective vest.

 

When driving in Germany by car, it is worth having a reflective vest in the trunk. It will be useful in an emergency, but you can also get a penalty for not having it.

 

The German government now wants a similar obligation for face masks. This may not sound particularly surprising in the current situation – after all, there is a pandemic, everyone has a mask with them anyway.

 

However, information from German media shows that Angela Merkel’s government wants the obligation to stay and after the pandemic – when we finally deal with it. In a word – two masks in a car are to be the same duty as now a reflective vest. You will need them in your trunk. Failure to do so is subject to a fine of EUR 15.

 

Mandatory mask in the car. But why?

Exactly – most of us treat masks as a necessary evil. And we will gladly take them off as soon as the pandemic is over. So why an extra obligation?

 

Not everyone understands this. For example, he does not understand ADAC – an influential German organization with up to 17 million drivers. “Such principles are accepted when people understand the need behind them,” said an ADAC spokeswoman.

 

So what can the German government be about? Maybe this is a cover in the event of a future pandemic? Or maybe the German authorities are just preparing for the fact that the pandemic will not end so soon – even if we think so?

 

There is another explanation as well. The masks are uncomfortable, but they protect us against viruses – not only against coronavirus. And it is visible that the number of remaining infections is decreasing because masks simply protect us against them. Who knows, maybe it’s time to prepare for the fact that we will not forget about the masks so quickly, and that the authorities will “encourage” us in various ways to have them with us as often as possible?

Remember to clean the road after the passage of agricultural machinery

In wet periods, the passage of agricultural machinery can make the roads muddy, therefore slippery and dangerous. To limit the risks, it is necessary to report the site to the drivers and clean the road afterward. In the event of dirty work, also remember to check that the indicators, position lights, and rotating beacon are clean and in working order before resuming the road.

Obligation to clean the roads at the end of the work

As soon as the rainy days follow one another, when many tractors intervene on a plot, for example, to harvest corn, potatoes, or beets, the roads can become covered with mud at the exit of the plots. Cleaning them at the end of the work is a legal obligation.

If this mud is the cause of an accident, your liability may be incurred.

Article 1240 of the Civil Code stipulates that “any act whatsoever of man which causes damage to another obliges the person through whose fault he has arrived to repair it”. Even if the fault is not voluntary, not having cleaned the road at the end of your worksite makes you responsible for the slip, at the origin of the accident.

In the event of a dispute, the sentence may range from a fine of 1,500 to 3,000 €, about article R 116-2-4 of the Highway Code which punishes anyone who spreads harmful substances on the road. health and public safety. If the accident results in bodily injury, the fault is reclassified as an offense carrying the penalty of up to a fine of € 15,000 and imprisonment for one year. In the event of death, responsible agriculture incurs a fine of up to € 145,000 and 3 years’ imprisonment.

Report the risk

During the work, to limit the risk of accident, the law obliges to report the presence of mud, such as the exit of tractors or any other danger. You must position regulatory triangular panels 150 m before the site, in both directions of traffic. However, installing a panel does not release any liability and does not exempt from cleaning. But in the event of an appeal, the authorities will judge whether the right means have been implemented, the signs are part of it.

Clean at the end of the work

To limit the soiling of the road, if possible, choose the most favorable weather window. Depending on the configuration of the plot, take a secondary path or multiply the accesses, to avoid piles of mud in the same place.

If despite these precautions, mud is present on the pavement, it will have to be cleaned as soon as the site is finished, either manually (during this intervention, people on the pavement must of course wear a retro-reflective vest), or with a sweeper-type machine with a rubber bib.

The damaged vehicle can be marked with yellow flash launchers

Since last day 1, a damaged vehicle can already be marked with a flashing yellow light, this being one of the modifications introduced by the Order of July 31.

It is included in Annex XI of the Vehicle Regulation the possibility of placing on the exterior of the vehicle, when it is immobilized on the road due to accident or breakdown, a yellow auto light device, with autonomous power supply, high visibility and that is stable on a flat surface. This new luminous device is included as an optional element, together with the existing danger triangle, which is still mandatory.

The new element improves the pre-signaling, avoiding what sometimes happens, the accident by the scope with dire consequences for the driver of the damaged vehicle.

We take this opportunity to remember the provisions in case of immobilization of the vehicle due to damage or physical discomfort. If the vehicle is stopped on the road (and the shoulder is part of the road), the driver will turn on the fault light (all four turn signals). Then a reflective vest should be put on when you leave the vehicle on the interurban roads, with a fine of 200 euros for not doing so. In the city, it is not compulsory.

Immediately afterward, you must place the hazard warning signs 50 meters from the vehicle, one in front and one behind, except on the one-way roads that will only be placed behind, and must be visible from 100 meters. Not using such devices, or doing it improperly, carries a fine of 80 euros.

If you have the new lighting device, it is time to place it on the roof of the vehicle.