Call for mandatory wearing of high vis vests by pedestrians on unlit roads

A MAYO Fianna Fáil councillor is calling on the Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport to make the wearing of high visibility clothing mandatory for pedestrians on unlit roads and streets.

At a recent meeting of Mayo County Council’s Roads & Transportation Strategic Policy Committee, the committee noted the significant number of pedestrian fatalities on Irish roads, currently standing at 26 so far this year.

In 2016, a total of 35. pedestrians were killed on Irish roads, 23 of which fatalities occurred in rural areas.

Councilor Brendan Mulroy, newly appointed Chair of the SPC, said “That is why I believe the compulsory use of high-visibility clothing can make a significant contribution to enhance road safety in the future, for both pedestrians and motorists alike.

“The use of high-visibility clothing is a simple, affordable and effective option, as a high-visibility jacket can be seen at a distance of 500 metres by an oncoming vehicle.

“That’s almost the length of four football pitches and gives the driver plenty of time to react to road users.

“In contrast, if a high-visibility jacket is not worn, an oncoming driver will not see the person until 50 metres away, which is too late to react,” he said.

Councillor Mulroy is calling on the minister to introduce a statutory obligation involving the wearing of reflective clothing by all pedestrians and cyclists, making it a criminal offence under Road Traffic legislation for any person not wearing high visibility clothing using public roads in the hours of darkness on unlit roads.

Any person in breach of such provision would become liable to be issued with a fixed charge notice or summonsed to court, depending on whatever procedure would be put in place for the processing of such offences.

Over the past four years almost four million high visibility vests, armbands, rucksack covers and other such luminous items have been distributed by the RSA, An Garda Síochana, Road Safety Officers, Age Action and the Vintners Federation.

A number of measures are included in the Road Safety Authoritys Road Safety Strategy 2013-2020, aimed at increasing the wearing of high visibility clothing among pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

“It’s common sense but some people don’t want always practice common sense. As a consequence of that I want to make it a legal requirement for people to wear a hi-vis jacket. It’s in the interest of public safety.

"The Rules of the Road also include a strong recommendation supporting the wearing of light, and preferably high-visibility, clothing but pedestrians are still not wearing this clothing, putting themselves and other road users in danger,” he added.