Comma's Campaign For The Compulsory Carrying of High-Visibility Vests in Cars
Published: 27th August 2007
The Campaign For The Compulsory Carrying of High-Visibility Vests
Car care specialist, Comma, is campaigning to make carrying a high-visibility vest in the car compulsory, in an attempt to reduce the 250* people killed or seriously injured every year on the hard shoulder.
Fatalities on the hard shoulder in the UK account for 12.7% of all motorway deaths. That is more than twice the average number of fatalities under similar circumstances in several European countries where legislation means it is illegal to drive without having a high-visibility vest on board**.
With UK law lagging behind that of Belgium, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Italy and Croatia, Comma has launched an online petition to make visi-vests a ‘compulsory boot item’ at www.safeandseen.co.uk
Comma spokesman, Mike Bewsey, said: “Comma has always been on the side of the motorist and this seemed like an issue we could directly impact for the better. The simple precaution of carrying a visi-vest in the boot of the car can really help to save lives”.
Whereas Italy, Spain and Portugal have seen a dip in the number of pedestrian fatalities every year since 2003, the equivalent figure for the UK and France, where hi-vis vests are not mandatory, has risen***.
Having already positioned itself as a champion of motorist’s safety by lobbying to make brake fluid boiling point testing a mandatory part of the MOT, Comma, is kicking off its ‘safe and seen’ campaign by giving away 250,000 fluorescent visi-vests for free, with 5-litre packs of its Performance Motor Oil during September and October 2007.
Most of the visi-vests will make their way to the motorist through the UK’s network of independent garages that use Comma product, but those changing their own oil will also find visi-vests attached to 5ltr packs stocked at many of the distributors across the UK.
* Direct Line Breakdown survey, October 2005
** Source: CARE database (EU road accidents database), 2004
*** Source: CARE / EC, published April 2007
