Almost 135,000 reflective bands will be given to Poles in connection with Goodyear’s campaigns to improve safety on Polish roads. With the latest issue of the weekly “Motor” (September 1st of this year) and on September 4th of this year with the daily “Nowiny”, every reader will receive a reflective band with the Goodyear logo, thanks to which they will be more visible after dark.
The special gift from Goodyear is part of the “Be visible on the road” and “Safe roads of Podkarpacie” campaigns, which aim to improve the visibility of pedestrians and cyclists, especially after dark. In the previous issue of the weekly “Motor”, a report on pedestrian safety at night was published, which showed the huge scale of the problem. Every third accident that occurs on Polish roads is a so-called pedestrian collision. In 2007, as many as 35% of people died for this reason. In a confrontation with a vehicle, a pedestrian has practically no chance, which further decreases after dark when they become less visible.
In the latest “Motor”, in addition to the special gift, readers will also find information on how to wear the band to be visible to drivers at night. You can also find data there on how a reflective band affects the safety of a pedestrian walking along the shoulder at night and while crossing the street. During this year’s 12th Dębica-Dębica Festival, which took place on August 30, 2008, in Dębica, several hundred bands with the Goodyear logo were distributed.
As statistics show, poorly visible pedestrians are just as big a threat on Polish roads as reckless drivers. Drivers using low-beam headlights in good weather conditions are able to spot a pedestrian or cyclist only at a distance of 40 meters. Over such a short distance, the driver is unable to make a decision to brake and then avoid the pedestrian. For comparison, a person with a reflective band is visible from a distance of 100-150 m, even with low-beam headlights.
Goodyear’s cooperation with “Motor” and “Nowiny” is another element of the company’s diverse activities to improve the safety of all road users. In May of this year, the first nationwide program in Poland for the safety of company car drivers was launched – http://www.defensywnikierowcy.pl/ – Safe Company Car. The idea of the program is to increase road safety and driver awareness by popularizing the principles of defensive driving among management and employees of small and medium-sized enterprises using company cars.