traffic safety

Call it Crash, Not Accident

/ traffic safety / ,

The Vision Zero Initiative is taking root in the US. It is a fundamental principle that requires ambitious work on infrastructure and attitudes: “Vision Zero is the Swedish approach to road safety thinking. It can be summarised in one sentence: No loss of life is acceptable. The Vision Zero approach has proven highly successful. It is based on the simple fact that we are human and make mistakes. The road system needs to keep us moving. But it must also be designed to protect us at every turn.” We wrote about it here and a good Vision Zero primer is given here.

Today, a big attitude changer showed up in our Twitter feed. …

Call it Crash, Not AccidentRead More »

Call it Crash, Not Accident Read More »

Distracted Driving

/ traffic safety / ,

April is distracted driving awareness month, a subject that is near and dear to us. We keep telling walkers, runners and bikers to make themselves visible with reflectors to help drivers see them in the dark, but drivers also need to be focused on what’s on and along the road!

It’s estimated that 5,000 deaths a year or 16% of all fatal crashes involves distractions mainly from cellphones (texting/talking/downloading music) or passengers. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has put faces to the numbers. See here what distracted driving looks like inside some cars. Hold on: …

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Distracted Driving Read More »

The Twilight Zone

/ traffic safety

I was driving home a sunny afternoon and suddenly one car caught my attention more than the others. That car had it’s headlights turned on. The sky was already turning pink and 5 minutes later, most cars had their lights on. The human eye is an amazing construction and adapts quickly to the available light.

Do you walk in the twilight zone? Wear reflectors if it's dark enough to notice the car lights!
Wear reflectors if it’s dark enough to notice the car lights!

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The Twilight ZoneRead More »

The Twilight Zone Read More »

Friday the 13th

/ traffic safety

We believe today is just as bad as any other day to step outside in the dark without reflectors! But just in case we are wrong, here is reminder to some extra caution on Friday the thirteenth!

Even a black cat safety reflector from funflector would do some good to improve your luck. Find all cat safety reflectors in our webshop here>

Less bad luck on Friday the thirteenth with funflector safety reflectors!
Less bad luck on Friday the thirteenth with funflector safety reflectors!

The funflector team

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The Vision Zero+ Initiative

/ thoughts, traffic safety / , ,

The Vision Zero Initiative is not about nothing. On visionzeroinitiative.com we can learn that it is in fact a fundamental principle that requires ambitious work on infrastructure and attitudes:

“The Vision Zero is the Swedish approach to road safety thinking. It can be summarised in one sentence: No loss of life is acceptable. The Vision Zero approach has proven highly successful. It is based on the simple fact that we are human and make mistakes. The road system needs to keep us moving. But it must also be designed to protect us at every turn.”

Vision Zero Initiative
Vision Zero was initiated by a decision of the Swedish parliament in 1997 and I saw firsthand how road safety improved in Sweden until I moved to the US ten years later. It was a bit of a shock to come here and experience the car-centric culture reflected in both citizen behavior/attitudes and infrastructure decisions. I’m happy to see that the Vision Zero has attracted a lot of attention and several American cities are adopting it to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers. Just a week ago, the first-ever Vision Zero for Cities Symposium (VZCS) took place in New York City – yay! There are a lot of needed improvements in infrastructure, but also in shifting attitudes among the general public. …

The Vision Zero+ InitiativeRead More »

The Vision Zero+ Initiative Read More »

Let’s Do the Numbers

/ thoughts, traffic safety / , , ,

How much do reflectors, like the funflector® ones, actually help? The sad truth is that there are no solid numbers available. As far as we know, no one is collecting data on whether or not pedestrians who were hit by cars in the dark, had reflectors or not. However, reflectors have been promoted in Sweden since the 70’s. Insurance companies have given away hundreds of thousands of them over the years, so one has to assume that they do some good and that the repeated giveaways are based on rational business decisions to improve their bottom line. What we have though, are some numbers that we can compare between Sweden and the US, one country where 30-50% of adults wear reflectors and one where very few do. In each country, infrastructure and culture is the same day and night. Sweden has better street lights, but they are rarely enough to make a significant difference to seeing pedestrians several hundred feet away.
tally marks by funflector
So, here are the numbers (pretty rough, but give the order of magnitude):  …

Let’s Do the NumbersRead More »

Let’s Do the Numbers Read More »

Wicked Witch Hat Halloween Safety

/ neat stuff, traffic safety / , , , ,

20 days until Halloween! It’s time to order reflectors for everyone whose safety you care about. Choose anything from a wicked witch hat or a scary skull and crossbones to a handsome ghost.

Halloween safety poem - funflector - fun Halloween safety reflectors
A black cat or wicked witch hat, a skull, a ghost or a flying bat?

Halloween

To be scared is fun when it’s just for a night,
but returning to life is for the bright.
Be bright enough for drivers to see
what along the road could be
a goblin, a witch or ghost on the run
out Trick-or-Treating just for fun.
Your alter ego is easy to protect
with a few fun things that reflect.
The choices are many, the price is low
no reason funflectors to forgo.
A black cat or wicked witch hat,
a skull, a ghost or a flying bat?
Pick one, pick two or even three,
a cool reflector for safety is key!
Reflect yourself and your style,
wake up next day with a smile!

The funflector team
 
SaveSave

Driving in the dark
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Wicked Witch Hat Halloween SafetyRead More »

Wicked Witch Hat Halloween Safety Read More »

Halloween Preparation

/ traffic safety
Powerful Halloween reflectors that are more fun than reflective tape. A bat and a hat have been added to the Halloween collection this year.
Powerful Halloween reflectors that are more fun than reflective tape. A bat and a hat have been added to the Halloween collection this year.


October is here with excitement, anticipation and preparations for Halloween. Haunted houses, parties and trick-or-treating are supposed to be scary, but only on an imaginary level. Scary for real, like being hit by a car, should be avoided at all cost. Look at the curve below. With a few precautionary steps and some good reflectors, we could make a joint effort to push that Halloween spike of child fatalities down! Want to join? 

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Halloween PreparationRead More »

Halloween Preparation Read More »

500+ Feet Visibility!

/ reflector basics, traffic safety / , , , ,

Good reflectors should make pedestrians visible from a distance of 125 meters (410 feet), but we wanted to know if we could see our funflector® reflectors from even further away. Would they meet the 500 feet visibility target?
However, first let us be clear about why we care so much about safety reflectors:

That is how much of a difference reflectors make!
We found a dark street, straight for over 500 feet and with very little traffic. Here is what we saw of a pedestrian facing us with two reflectors hanging from front belt loops.The first image below was captured at 600 feet. We are very excited and pleased with the result since it is very important for us to provide as much safety as possible for our customers. A note of caution though: reality is rarely staged like this, so please wear at least two reflectors, but place one back and one front – OR- one left and one right. You never know exactly how you will be turned the moment the driver needs to see you! Alternatively, put a slap bracelet around your ankle, the visibility from all directions is pretty good unless you carry bags in your hands that hang low down.

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500+ Feet Visibility!Read More »

500+ Feet Visibility! Read More »

Why EN13356?

/ reflector basics, traffic safety /

Safety reflectors increase visibility at night, but are they doing enough to make drivers notice you? How do you know?

Look for the CE EN13356 mark when buying safety reflectors
Look for the CE EN13356 mark when buying reflectors

If you bought or received a funflector® reflector, you might have noticed the CE EN13356 marks on the labels. (The CE is a European mark for all types of consumer goods and should be followed with a more specific standard). Did you think you didn’t need to care since you are not in Europe?
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Why EN13356?Read More »

Why EN13356? Read More »

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