Eight-year-old Urho Malinen is happy to run in the courtyard of the Salmela School in Sotkamo, wearing a new safety vest. He was one of the first to get his vest and he is proud of it.
This vest is great, of course, I'm going to wear it too. Reflective tapes make this great. Visibility is super important, otherwise, you can stay under the car.
Sami Mähönen, the chief of the attention-grabbing campaign, watches Urho go with a smile and says that this is where the work is just beginning.
Now you have to get your parents involved too because you can't leave the use of children's vests alone to the kindergarten and the school. The example of the home is the most crucial here.
Sami Mähönen has obtained money from companies for a total of 2,000 vests. The cost of making reflective jackets was 11,000 euros. The attention vest is distributed in schools and kindergartens to every child from 3 to 12 years old in Scotland.
The municipality promised to handle the distribution, and the Traffic Safety and Police will help with the training. Money for the vests was purchased from companies. It once happened that there were more paying companies coming in than there was even a need.
"It is not always a big idea to go far," Mähönen smiles. The idea came about when Mähönen checked the safety equipment of his daughter in Eskar.
Next up, Timo Määttä, a traffic safety instructor, reminds us that the whole attention vests campaign hit an important point.
On darker roads, only one in two walkers wears a reflector or a vest. Against this knowledge, it is good for homes to wake up to the need for visibility.
Traffic safety trainer Timo Määttä says frankly that without a clear model, the use of vests is quickly forgotten.
For the smallest, the vest can be worn, but if the model does not come home, the larger ones will leave the vest on the shelf.
