Posts tagged with "road safety"

Allt om reflexer

Posted by Transparent Language 4 Comments
Jan 12 2009

If you don’t mind, I’d like to continue with our little road safety awareness message. Today’s topic – reflectors. The kind you wear on your clothing.

Now, don’t laugh! This is actually a serious matter. You think you’ve seen dark, but unless you’re from Alaska, you haven’t seen real dark. The kind of dark that comes at 2PM and wants to eat your soul by 5 in the afternoon. The kind of dark that requires an additional set of headlights for your car. (No, I am not joking.)

Yet even with all the headlights in the world, it still can be very difficult to see people, especially if said people wear dark clothing, or ride bikes in the dark.

You think I’m exaggerating? Nationalföreningen för Trafiksäkerhetens Främjande (The National Society for Road Safety) doesn’t think so. They agree that using proper personal reflectors is very important.

You will often see kids with shiny plastic gizmos hanging on their jackets, yet their parents are almost invisible in their dark winter coats. Or you will see an adult with a snap-on reflective band, yet the dog they are walking is invisible against the dark. Or you will see a woman with a reflective vest, but the baby carriage she’s pushing is black against black.


Baby carriage with a glow-in-the-dark cover and a little fella dressed for a safe evening walk.

I had never realized just how important personal reflectors were until I started driving in Norrland.

Did you know that:

Om du har mörka kläder upptäcker en bil med halvljus dig på 20-30 meters avstånd och om du har ljusa kläder syns du från 60 meter. Om du bär reflex ser bilen dig redan på 125 meters avstånd.

(If you wear dark clothes you are noticed by a driver from the distance of about 20-30 meters, with light clothes – from 60 meters, but when you have a reflector, you can be seen from 125 meters.)

Fortunately, the NTF webpage is a virtual goldmine of information. All you need to know about reflective items, vests and clothing can be found on their site.

And if you don’t know where to purchase a reflective snap-on band or a cute hangy-thingy for your child, head to your nearest Apoteket (pharmacy). They have a wide selection of all sorts of snazzy reflectors for kids and adults. And while you’re at it, don’t forget about your dog, especially if you’re using an extendable leash. Your puppy needs to be seen, too.

Walk safely!

Image: NTF

Remember – hjärnan kan inte gipsas!

Posted by Transparent Language 4 Comments
Jan 8 2009

The shortest day of the year is behind us, but that doesn’t mean that the days are getting all that much longer. While it’s not pitch black at 3PM anymore, it’s still dark. Add to this snow and ice, and driving can be very unpleasant. And dangerous.

I drive, and I can’t even imagine how people can survive here without a car. But that’s a topic for a whole another post. The fact is – some people don’t drive. Even though it’s snowy and slippery, some people still ride their bicycles. And no, riding a bike in the snow is not an extreme sport here but a necessity if you don’t own a car. You can even get special winter bicycle tires, which are studded just like normal winter car tires.

Studded tires notwithstanding, it still surprises me how many of those hardened winter cyclists don’t wear helmets. The law says that only kids under 15 need to wear helmets, and it seems that even though it’s the law, few of them actually follow it. I wonder what their parents think. Do they put their faith in the Swedish health system? Hmmm… I really would like to know.

According to Vägverket’s statistical information, only 65.5% of kids under 10 years of age wear a helmet. And only 43.6% in the 10 to 16 years of age group. For adults the results are embarrassing – 20 to 22% of adults under the age of 65 wear a helmet. The percentage is equally low for older people.

This is pathetic. I did not look for statistics about brain injuries, but a visit to any ER in winter will tell you all you need to know. Not wearing a helmet when riding a bike can be deadly.

Vägverket is being very gentle on their website when reminding people to wear bike helmets. Too gentle, if you ask me:

Varje dag skadas nära hundra cyklister i Sverige. Få av dem krockar med bilar eller andra trafikanter. Den vanligaste olyckan är en singelolycka. Så glöm inte hjälmen – hjärnan kan inte gipsas.

Why am I writing about it today?
I was driving from the store and on my way home witnesses a serious accident. A cyclist didn’t manage to stop in time at the intersection. He was going downhill from a bike path, but braking on snow and ice proved to be too difficult. A couple of somersaults later, he ended up with his head in the middle of a busy road. And oh yeah, he was not wearing a helmet.

So, even if you think you don’t look cool when wearing a helmet, just imagine how uncool you will look with a serious brain injury.
Remember – you can put an arm or a leg in a plaster cast, but not a brain.

Here is some info about choosing a proper bicycle helmet, courtesy of Vägverket.

Tips när du köper hjälm:


Hjälmar ska uppfylla grundkrav för hälsa och säkerhet för att få säljas. Bruksanvisningen ska vara på svenska och även förklara märkningen. Ett CE-märke på hjälmen visar att tillverkaren fått certifikat på att hjälmen uppfyller de krav som lagen ställer. Bara särskilt utsedda laboratorier kan utfärda certifikaten.


När du provar hjälm, tänk på följande:
• Hjälmen ska sitta perfekt så att den inte kan trilla av eller skjutas bakåt och lämna pannan fri. Den får inte glida ner i nacken!
• Om du köper till ett barn: köp inte en för stor hjälm som barnet ska växa i.
• Hjälmen ska täcka panna, bakhuvud och hjässa.
• Hjälmen ska vara lätt att ta på och av och lätt att fästa med hakbandet.
• Hjälmen ska vara så lätt och bekväm att den inte känns jobbig att använda. Se till att knäppningen i hakbandet inte nyper eller klämmer.
• Hakbandet brukar vara lagom spänt om du får ett finger mellan bandet och hakan. Det är viktigt att hjälmen sitter stadigt!
• Du ska trivas med hjälmen. Prova den framför spegeln innan du bestämmer dig. Det är inget fel om den är snygg.

Image: pressbilder VV

Hög tid för vinterdäck

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Nov 23 2008

On Friday I took my car in to get winter tires put on. And it was about time. Driving on snow and ice covered roads was becoming rather hazardous. Driving with spiky tires is a little bit better.

Most manly men I know change their tires themselves, but lacking a handy wrench monkey, I go to a tire shop where a crew of handsome young guys does the deed for me. It may not be the cheapest tire shop, but they are quick, pleasant and easy on the eyes. And they don’t mind at all when I show up interrupting their lunch break. They even let me convince them to rotate the tires every season. – Here, it’s customary to mark the tires and put them in exactly the same place every time they’re changed, for example: left front, left rear, etc.

And just when you’re supposed to change the tires? This is what it says on the Vägverket website:

  • Vinterdäck krävs 1 december – 31 mars om det är vinterväglag. (Winter tires are required from December 1 till March 31 if there are winter conditions on the road.)

The important word here is däck – tire.

  • däck (def. däcket, pl. däck, pl. def. däcken) – ring av gummi som sitter på ett hjul t. ex. bildäck, cykeldäck.

And then of course we have different types of däck such as

  • vinterdäck – tires for winter conditions
  • sommardäck – tires for “summer” conditions
  • or even dubbdäck – studded tires

Drive safely this winter!

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