Author: stellaqi

Peugeot Scooters also offers its airbag vest

PTW manufacturers and specialized equipment manufacturers know that motorcycles or scooters can seriously affect your health. In order to limit the risks, Peugeot Scooters proposes, in turn, an Airbag reflective vest.

Legally proud to be the first manufacturer to have equipped a scooter 125 with a standard ABS braking system (read our test MNC March 23, 2006: Peugeot Steles 125, ready for takeoff), Peugeot Scooters “goes further by proposing equipment to protect the driver and passenger directly “: the airbag vest!

Developed in collaboration with specialists of Halite / Protein bag, this hi vis vest is simple and – we hope! – effective: unlike the “wireless” electronic vests of Bering and Dinesen (read our Special MNC Airbag Motorcycle Folder), the system proposed by the manufacturer franc-comatose binds the scooter to its user with a security cordon, as on the jackets DiMaggio and the Aurelia or Gauzy jackets (read MNC of 2 July 2010 and MNC of 17 September 2010).

“The trigger is a mechanical system consisting of a striker, a ball-key, and a spring,” describes Peugeot. “In the event of a fall, the key ball connected to the safety cord is detached and the striker pierces the cartridge under the pressure of the spring.” The high-strength polyurethane air cushions then create a 0.35kg inflated protective shell. / cc that unfolds in 0.1 seconds The cushions automatically deflate in a few tens of seconds.

The vest (sewn-in reflective fabric)weighs less than a kilo and is worn – no sir agent, not above a simple shirt! – above the jacket or jacket. In case of a fall and if the vest is not damaged, a new CO2 cartridge (€ 29.99) and a connecting cord (€ 22) are required to hit the road.

Available in “high visibility neon yellow” or in black, in all sizes from S to XL, this new airbag is already available from Peugeot Scooters network dealers for € 449.90.

Mandatory car equipment. The fines are threatening

Mandatory equipment of the car is indicated by the ordinance of the Minister of Infrastructure of December 31, 2002, on the technical conditions of vehicles and the scope of their necessary equipment. Each car should be provided with a fire extinguisher, a reflective vest and a warning triangle with an approval mark.

The fire extinguisher must be placed in an easily accessible place if necessary. It does not count its expiration date. Lack of a fire extinguisher exposes the driver to a fine of 20 to 500 PLN. The driver can be granted the same mandate for the lack of a warning triangle. In addition, failure to report it in the event of a breakdown is punishable by 150 PLN.

Depending on the current regulations in Poland, a first aid kit is not an obligatory car equipment. However, it is worth having it. Similarly, with a tow rope, reflective safety vest, spare wheel or additional bulbs. There is no requirement to equip the vehicle with these elements but are often used on the road.

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With the mandatory fitting of the vehicle, it is worth mentioning the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. Depending on it, the car should meet the mandatory equipment requirements in the country in which it is registered. Thus, a driver from Poland entering a country where it is obligatory to have a reflective clothing and a first aid kit cannot be fined for not having it, because having a first aid kit is not mandatory in Poland. Practice shows that attempts to award a ticket for lack of equipment required by local law still take place. If you do here not accept a ticket, you may need legal assistance in your country. It is worth already during the inspection to notify the Polish consulate about the fact.

The yellow or safety vest is now mandatory

Bikers are housed in the same way as motorists regarding the possession of a safety vest. Whether you ride in two wheels, three wheels or quad, the yellow vest is mandatory.

The regulations came into effect on January 1, 2016. It will cost you € 11 if you do not have it during a check by the police. What? The reflective vest or yellow motorcycle vest.

Note that it is not necessary to wear it, but simply to have it at hand in a storage or net.

By cons, in case of emergency stop (accident, breakdown), you must wear it if you get off your machine. Otherwise, you risk a fine of 135 €.

Remember that this is a measure that allows you to be visible to other road users in case of problems, because you become more vulnerable. Read our article on what is changing on January 1, 2016 for motorists and motorcyclists

Reminder to motorists

A booster for motorists, the requirements of the high visibility vest and the pre-signaling triangle remain valid. For fines, they are identical, namely:

€ 11 in case of immediate non-presentation of the triangle or vest, in case of a road check. If you do not have both, you will be verbalized twice!
135 € in case of non-use of the triangle and / or vest. You risk only one fine in this case.

Racers pay for safety vests

The safety vests are distributed free of charge. Subsidized traffic safety training courses are also offered. “Super action,” says Fritz Meyer. The fit-skinned pensioner cycled on Friday to the weekly market by bicycle. Back we went with potatoes, apples and a brand new safety vest. At the beginning of the cycling season, representatives of the district, the police, and the Ampersand traffic police had distributed yellow safety vests to the visitors.

 

“That really brings a lot to safety,” says Elson, head of the police station. “Cyclists, but also scooter or moped riders can be seen much better,” said Elson. Even in bright sunshine, the reflective stripes would increase visibility. Rudolf from the Ampersand adds: “Good visibility is often vital for the so-called weaker road users.”

 

3000 vests will now be handed over free of charge at various prevention events or markets in the coming weeks. The necessary 6000 Euros come half of the National Traffic Watch and the district. He specifically uses revenue from traffic monitoring for such purposes. Not only are the safety vests financed by flashed Riser, but also other measures.

 

“For example, we regularly offer driver safety training on the air base. The participation fees are largely financed by the district’s traffic monitoring revenues, “explains prevention expert Hermann Nee of the police. Also at the spring meeting of motorcyclists on the weekend, he will again be present with colleagues at a preventive stand. Further distribution activities from the west are also planned in all other municipalities.

Policewoman celebrates success with reflective hood

In Vienna, the police officer Manuela made her big appearance on Wednesday: At the kick-off for the traffic safety campaign of the ÖAMTC under the title, “See and be seen” was presented what comes from her hand. Wilhelm: “Three years ago, I crocheted hoods with reflective yarn for the children of a friend. The visibility of children in the dark season on the road was a concern to me.”

 

At the same time, the ÖAMTC issued a competition. Wilhelm handed one of her caps and won.

 

Now the special handicraft celebrates a success. The ÖAMTC presented the reflective hoods and their “inventor” in Vienna at the campaign launch. That does not mean that the police officer in her free time crochets out hell. “I only do the hoods for so-called home use,” says Wilhelm. However, after their submission, the ÖAMTC makes the caps in larger quantities and they are available in every ÖAMTC base.

Avoid accidents on road with wearing safety vest

It also recommends helmet on and safety vest or fluorescent textiles on. “Responsibility and mutual care are essential in road traffic,” says Professor Dr. med. Joachim, Deputy DGOU President, and President of the German Society for Trauma Surgery as well as Director of the Department of Trauma and Hand Surgery of the University Hospital Dusseldorf.

 

According to calculations by the Federal Statistical Office, in 2016 there were a total of 81,272 bicycle accidents in which people were injured. 393 cyclists died. The main cause of serious bicycle accident injuries was a car crash in 74 percent of the time. In accidents involving a car, the cyclist was only 24 percent the main cause of the accident.

 

A collision between cyclists and turning car or truck drivers is one of the causes of serious cycling accidents. Therefore, Dr. Christopher, Head of the DGOU Prevention and Senior Physician Section at the Department of Trauma Surgery, Orthopedics, and Plastic Surgery at the University Medical Center: “Attention and respect for cyclists must become even stronger.” Do not forget to turn your shoulder glance and seek eye contact with the cyclist. Eye contact ensures mutual perception. If it does not come about, the cyclist should drive restrained, in order to be able to react to a dangerous situation in time – if necessary by stopping and turning the vehicle. Sparing advises: “For their own safety, cyclists should not rely on their right of way.” This applies especially to truck vehicles. Cyclists need to be aware that they may be in the blind spot and the truck driver cannot see them. Remedy here provides technical turn-off assistance, but with which trucks are so far only sporadically equipped and on the cyclists should therefore not rely.

 

In his own interest, the cyclist should also ensure that other road users could recognize him quickly at any time of the day or night. In addition to the traffic-safe bike with lighting is suitable to wear reflective clothing. One option is the safety vest, a simple but very effective means. Reflective straps or stickers also improve visibility. “On the other hand, car drivers must not rely on this provision. Their perception for cyclists should always be sharpened – especially at intersections, “says Sparing.

 

In the life-threatening injured cyclists, the major traumatic brain injury is the main injury. “Every cyclist should therefore use a protective helmet,” advises bicycle accident researcher and DGOU prevention expert. A bicycle helmet protects the head by reducing the energy that acts on the skull when impacted – helmet wearers thus suffer less severe head injuries. In 2017, 19 percent of cyclists wore a helmet. That is an increase of two percent over the previous year. In 2010, it was 9 percent. “The increasing acceptance of the helmet is very positive. Overall, unfortunately, there are still too few people using a helmet, “says Jurua.

 

Helmet, safety reflective vest, and a look at the risks in road traffic are measures that cyclists can implement on their own responsibility immediately and at any time – but which cannot prevent every accident. “For more safety for cyclists, further measures such as infrastructural changes in traffic are therefore necessary,” says Sparing.

Many Reflectors are no good

In the dark autumn and winter days, the way to school is particularly dangerous. Reflective clothes and satchels should make children more visible in the dark on the road, but many of these reflectors are of no use. This reports the magazine “Auto Bold” in the issue after a test.

 

Whether colorful bunnies, little hearts or little sharks – with reflectors for children’s clothing the imagination knows no bounds. However, the effect is very limited. Most reflectors do not throw back enough light by far. Ten out of twelve tested reflectors failed. A minimum value for the reflection of light is given by the European standard EN 13356.

 

Test reflective material with flashlight

Reflectors should also always dangle on a string that is attached to the clothing with a safety pin. If the child is stuck with it somewhere, the thread simply tears off – but a chain might not. From the quality of a reflector, parents can get an impression by illuminating it in a dark room with a flashlight. If doubts arise that he does not sparkle bright enough, should he be returned to the store, the testers advice.

 

As an alternative to reflector trailers, children can wipe safety vests from the car dealer over the jacket. However, Sven of the German Road Safety Council notes that school bags or rucksacks without additional reflectors must under no circumstances cover the reflective strips.

Round Table 47 donates safety vests

The Service Club Round Table 47 has equipped four urban day care centers with safety vests for the children. Not only children, parents and educators were happy about the reflective vest, with which the Katanga groups can be seen, better during excursions and traffic exercises.

 

Round Table is an international association of young men with around 3500 members in Germany. “RT is born of the spirit of the English club life, the membership ends automatically with the completion of the 40th year of life, and thus a permanent influx of new ideas is secured. Round Table 47 was founded in 1969 in Monchengladbach to cultivate contacts, professional Exchange experiences and start repeatedly non-profit projects.

 

Traffic safety consultant Erwin Henchman from the police is also enthusiastic: “Even the youngest children often wear dark clothes today – that looks chic, but makes them almost invisible in twilight and darkness.”

New reflective material invisible for infrared cameras

Scientists borrow camouflage technique from cuttlefish. A new reflective fabric that can adjust its reflective properties has a future in aerospace, the military, the transport sector and more, say the inventors.

 

The scientists have looked for special cells in the skin of squid that reflect light from the dominant surrounding color, so that the marine animals are absorbed into the background. The researchers mimicked this effect with material that directly changes how heat is reflected when an electrical voltage is applied.

 

‘Invisibility blanket’

The substance is a bit like an insulation blanket used by emergency workers and has the same reflective basic characteristics. It consists of layers of aluminum, plastic, and high visibility tape and is wrinkled and dull in its base.

 

Now that there is tension on the material, the layer becomes smooth and shiny, so that the reflective properties of the material change. In this way, for example, someone dressed in a uniform with this material can become invisible to infrared cameras.

 

A patent has been applied for on the idea that now all of them are still in laboratory form. The idea is to produce large quantities of the fabric for, for example, army clothing, emergency shelters, space springs, or cooling systems. The dissertation on the new reflective material was published today in scientific journal Science.

How to behave if Vehicle failure

How to behave in the event of a vehicle was breakdown on the road? If possible, push the car onto the roadside or sidewalk. Car breakdown – put on a safety vest. First, we must take care of our safety. After immobilizing the vehicle, we should turn on emergency lights. The next step should be to put on a reflective vest – every driver, although there is no legal obligation in Poland, should have it in the car.

 

Ideally, there would be vests for all passengers in the car. Remember to keep the vest in the cabin, not in the hard-to-reach trunk. The cost of buying a vest is small and its impact on safety is huge. After sunset, the lack of reflections means that we are visible to the driver of the oncoming vehicle only when there are 20 meters ahead – reflections increase this distance to 130 meters. This huge difference gives the driver time for the right response. In addition, please note that reflective vests in most European countries are already mandatory vehicle equipment.

 

Wearing a high visibility vest, driver, and passengers should safely leave the vehicle. Being in a vehicle exposes us to additional risk. Many people die in vehicles that are inactivated by a breakdown. Speed, wrong marking of a broken vehicle, difficult road conditions means that drivers enter a broken car.

 

“When leaving the vehicle, pay special attention to children. Let us get them out of the right side and hide immediately on the roadside behind safety barriers or in a zone where there is no risk of driving another vehicle, “instructor Auto School. The vehicle in addition to the hazard lights should be marked with a warning triangle. Every car must be equipped with it. His lack is not only a sign of carelessness for his safety, but also the risk of receiving a fine of 50 to 200 PLN.

 

By marking the vehicle with a triangle, we should have in our head the provisions of the road code. If you are on a highway or expressway, the triangle should be set 100 meters from the vehicle. The triangle should be on the roadway or shoulder. Outside the built-up area, the triangle is set at a distance of 30-50 meters from the vehicle, and in the built-up area – just behind the vehicle or on the vehicle at a height not higher than one meter.

 

Our life and health do not have a price. The car’s equipment with reflective vests, learning the rules of conduct in the event of a failure is a small effort if we put our safety at the stake.