Skip to main content

What kind of jackets do your kids wear?

 As the days of autumn grow shorter, and the natural colors around us begin to fade, it's important to understand that making kids more visible isn't just about fun—it’s about safety. Data shows that the leading cause of death for children aged 5 to 10 isn’t illness, but accidents—particularly traffic accidents and injuries.

 
Now, let’s break this down: sure, gray, black, or dark blue jackets might look more stylish, but they’re far less noticeable to drivers. Here’s a key insight: under normal headlights, these standard colors are visible at about 20-30 meters in the dark. In contrast, bright colors combined with reflective elements can be seen from 150 meters away. That distance can literally be the difference between life and death, dramatically reducing the risk of being hit by a vehicle.
 

 
 
This doesn’t just apply to pedestrians—cyclists benefit too, with studies showing that proper visibility reduces the risk of accidents by 55%.
 
I’ve personally been fined for not wearing a reflective item (which, if worn incorrectly, might not even work), but the science is clear—bright clothing with reflective strips on all sides significantly enhances children’s safety.
 
So, ask yourself—what kind of jackets do your kids wear?
 
 
 
Safety Science Volume 108, October 2018, Pages 209-217 The effect of a yellow bicycle jacket on cyclist accidents
On-road measures of the visibility of pedestrians at night. 2003Journal of Vision, 3( 9): 549, 549a
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The Peak–End Rule as a practical principle.

The Peak–End Rule as a practical principle for behavior change. The peak–end rule explains how an overall impression is formed: it is determined by the most intense moment (the peak) and by how the experience ends.    Why? Our brains do not have the capacity to remember everything. From an evolutionary perspective, it made sense to retain only those memories that most strongly supported survival. Remembering the most painful and the most pleasurable moments helped us avoid danger or seek out beneficial experiences in the future.      How the rule works. The most important moment in lifestyle change is not when you are training in the gym, but when you decide whether or not you will do your next workout. In that moment, you subconsciously weigh many factors: how important your goals are, how well they align with your identity and values, how pleasant or unpleasant your previous experience was, and how pleasant or unpleasant you expect the next one to be. If you...
Read more

The dopamine-serotonin swing: from drugs to ideologies.

The dopamine-serotonin swing: from drugs to  ideologies. Our brain uses different neurotransmitter systems to interact with what lies at a distance from us. There's the “here-and-now, accessible” the liking system (oxytocin, endorphins, serotonin) – and the “future, not-here, unavailable” system – the wanting system (dopamine). The first system is active when we’re mindful, accepting reality, and present. When we slip into rumination, anxiety, or fantasy, the second system kicks in. Typically, we live mostly in the present, occasionally switching to the dopamine system for goal-setting, desires, forecasting, and planning, and then return to the present (this is a simplified explanation). Historically, escaping from reality was difficult due to its intense demands – survival, food gathering, mating, navigating threats – forcing us to remain grounded in the “here-and-now” with only brief ventures into fantasy. This created a vulnerability in our brains: a lack of brakes when consciou...
Read more