Reflective life-saving jackets are mandatory to wear when you get out of the car parked outside the built-up areas and in poor visibility conditions.
The reflective vest also called a life-saving vest, required by law since 2004. The Decree of 30 December 2003 of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport establishes that those who get out of the car of a stationary vehicle in conditions of poor visibility (low illumination, fog, snow or heavy rains) is required to wear the jacket.
It is advisable to keep the jacket in the vehicle if possible not in the trunk so that it is within reach for wearing it before getting out of the car.
Reflective jacket, which one to choose?
The Highway Code provides in article 162 the use of the reflective jacket or alternatively high visibility retro-reflective braces.
What should the reflective jacket be like?
The 2003 decree established that jackets and braces must comply with the CE mark and UNI EN 471.
No matter the color, which can be yellow, orange or red, as long as it is fluorescent and has strips that reflect light.
The obligation of the reflective vest
Always art. 162 paragraph 1 of the Highway Code imposes the obligation of the reflective vest on drivers of all vehicles except cycles, two-wheeled mopeds, and motorcycles. Normally, quadricycles are not excluded, so those driving for example quads and mini-cars must have a jacket.
This also applies to foreigners, even if the decree focuses on vehicles registered in Italy, leaving drivers of foreign vehicles the possibility of having a non-homologated jacket.
In paragraph 4, the art. 162 of the Highway Code indicates that the jacket or shoulder straps must always be used by drivers outside built-up areas, stationary on the roadway, on emergency lanes and lay-bys, at night and during the day in cases of poor visibility, when they go down from the car, and in all signaling operations, how to position the triangle.
Once out of the car, the vest is also mandatory for other passengers besides the driver.
Lifesaving jackets: sanctions
It is advisable to keep the reflective vest in the door to wear it even before getting out of the car.
Those who break the rule can run into administrative fines ranging from 41.00 to 169.00, which for the driver goes to reduce even 2 points from the license.
In any case, it is not mandatory to have the vest with reflective tape in the car and show it during the checks, while it is for the triangle.