Are you going on holiday? We advise what to check

If you are going on a long trip by car, you should not just think about whether you have packed everything essential. Also, check the car before long journeys. But not only the condition of the mixture in the wipers or the oil level.

"One of the primary things should have been checking the condition of the tires, for example. First of all, check the correct density for a fully-loaded vehicle. If your car does not have a spare wheel, make sure you also have a repair kit,"

Adds ten hints to follow in the last minute car check.

1. Check all car liquids

Before traveling, check not only the windscreen washer mixture but also the oil and coolant level.

You never know when you get into a car column, or you'll have to wipe dirt off the glass now and then.

However, if you do not go completely out of civilization, you can also buy a mixture and other liquids at petrol stations at stops.

2.Wiper wipers

Once you have checked that you have enough washer mixture, do not bypass the wiper performance test.

Think of attaching them to you at the wrong time, hundreds of miles from home, on the road at high speed, one of them did not fly away.

Check also how they wipe. They should not bounce on the window in the rain instead of wiping the water or otherwise create smudges. To prevent yourself from seeing anything through the windscreen.

3.Brakes and the shock absorbers

If the car has not undergone its spring cleaning and thorough service check, check the condition of its brakes (brake pads, pads) and the shock absorbers. Especially if you go on a long ride in the style of "safari", where the brakes and shock absorbers get to work.

However, most new vehicles have to wear signals and should alert you to problems.

Thus, on less demanding routes, the car should still have sufficient thickness to travel from, despite the brake pad wear indication.

4. Reserve them

When checking the car at the last minute, do not miss the correct tire density. This should be set to a fully-loaded car.

The condition of the spare wheel must also be checked. If your car doesn't have one, you shouldn't miss a "repair kit".

5.Light lights

Before traveling, check not only the lighting function but also the replacement bulbs. Nothing is pleasant when lighting fails in an unfamiliar environment.

6. Does air conditioning work?

Haven't used air conditioning yet? On a long journey by car and baking, the sun can meet.

You should test its functionality before traveling and have it repaired by a workshop if necessary. In order not to happen, you will only be a beauty during your long holiday trip.

7. First aid kit, the vest is?

First aid kit, reflective vests with reflective tapes, but also a warning triangle. These are safety accessories that the driver should always have at hand.

Before traveling, check not only their condition and location. In the case of reflective jackets, check in advance whether the number of passengers or special color is required in the countries on the route.

For example, when traveling through Austria to Italy or Croatia, the driver also fines if he has no reflective vest with him.

8. Pass and numbers do you have?

When you check the validity of your passports before you travel, also check your current assistance services and Slovak offices in the countries where you will be traveling.

The assistance service should be available 24/7 in any country. Of course, it depends on the agreed conditions with the insurance company or the car dealer.

And be sure to include the accident report form in case you crash.

9. Insurance is equipped?

When checking documents, do not overlook the validity of the green card, which confirms international liability insurance.

Especially when entering countries outside the EU, they may not even let you into the country without it.

10.The destination you know?

Before you make a long trip, find out possible destinations where you could spend the night if necessary, or places you could visit during a regular break.

Drivers, especially night travelers with children, should not go on a long journey without a few hours of sleep.

During the journey, regular breaks may help, preferably at 2-hour intervals.

Another alternative to diversify your holiday is to divide the long journey into one or more stops with overnight accommodation in an interesting area you are walking through.

They give away reflective elements to children for reducing the risk of accidents

The Allianz Foundation provided the town of Krupina with a financial contribution of EUR 500 and a donation in the form of 200 pieces of reflective tapes. The city received help within the project Safer in Krupina.

The financial contribution was used by the management to purchase reflective elements such as reflective vests and LED key fobs, which in cooperation with the municipal police, together with reflective strips, were handed over to primary school pupils and kindergarten children.

Police for children also prepared a short lecture on the importance of wearing reflective elements. Both the city and the police believe that these activities will contribute to the awareness of the importance of reflective elements aimed at increasing safety and reducing road accidents in Krupina.

Lower fines and reflective vests for pedestrians

Lower fines for minor traffic offenses, but also mandatory reflective vests for pedestrians. These changes brought by an amendment to the Road Act, which alleviates most of the original regulations.

Interior Minister Robert Kalinak said he is responding to improving the road safety situation. Reducing penalties applies to minor offenses, such as making phone calls while not wearing seat belts or throwing objects out of the car. The maximum rate will be reduced from € 60 to € 50. The principle will also be mitigated three times and enough, which in the event of repeated accidents caused the automatic withdrawal of the driving license, and three accidents occurred within five years.

Most recently, this principle will only apply to fatal or health-related accidents. The Interior Ministry claims that it has so far unnecessarily punished people who have caused minor accidents in which no one has even been injured.

"Let's not look at it as a softening of the law, but rather as taking into account the severity of accidents," says transport analyst Jozef Drahovský, who said it was the right step to fine-tune an otherwise good measure. According to the director of the Slovak auto tourist club Petr Pokorny, three accidents without injury could have accumulated in better drivers for five years. It also adds that the fines are still high even after they have been reduced. "Overall, I think fines are set too high. Even though it was originally intended to reduce the accident rate, it is mainly about making a person aware of his accident," he said.

Starting in January, pedestrians will have to wear reflective elements in the village and not just outside it if they walk along the side of the road. They will be worn on clothing in poor visibility. Especially in villages where there are no sidewalks, people will need to wear a reflective vest or sleeve strap, even if they go from a shop or visit a neighbor. Otherwise, they will be fined 60 euros. "It seems to me quite coercive because a pedestrian, even if he is a traffic participant, usually walks on the sidewalks and when they're not there, it's his own risk. It should be up to every municipality to ensure the safety of its people and it should not be addressed by law," thinks Pokorný of the new measure.

This obligation triggered discussions when it approved in parliament, but the ministry did not want to retreat. He claims that reflective labeling has already proven to be outside the municipality and expands it. This is confirmed by the police, which states that pedestrians caused up to 442 traffic accidents last year, of which 384 were in the village.

However, there are more changes in the law. In addition to returning to the registration numbers of your choice, there are also new rules on psychological confirmation of dependency reviews or the possibility of motorcyclists to park in zones. Although most of the adjustments should take effect only next year, the minor changes required by the European Union have been in force since 7 November.

Child safety on the road

When and how you can walk with children on the road? Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users and this is doubly true of children. When a car hits a pedestrian at a speed of 30 km / h, an average of every 20 pedestrians dies, with a speed of 50 km / h, almost half of the impact will not survive. The encounter of a pedestrian with a car driving 60 km / h means almost certain death for him.

However, if a car collides with a child at any speed, it can always end tragically, at a speed of 30 km / h is already critical to the child. This is precisely why care should be taken to prevent the safety of children on the road, which also addressed in the amendment to the Road Traffic Act, which entered into force in January this year.

Among other things, the amendment to the Road Traffic Act also brought additional obligations for pedestrians on the roadside or the roadside. In poor visibility, they must wear reflective elements or safety clothing not only outside the village but also inside it. The law defines reduced visibility as visibility in which road users do not see each other sufficiently clearly, especially from dusk to dawn, at fog, snow, rain or in a tunnel.

Especially in municipalities that do not have sidewalks at the edge of roads, these preventive measures are taking place, as the risk of a pedestrian collision with a motor vehicle has increased significantly. If the pedestrian moving along the road is not wearing reflective elements, the distance that the driver can see is significantly reduced.

Proper clothing in road safety plays a very important role. Generally, if we dressed in dark colors, the driver of a motor vehicle us in the dark, they see from a distance of about 20 meters, but the reflective material shines up to 200 meters distance. This effect is even more pronounced in young children.

Clothing and accessories in bright fluorescent colors then greatly contribute to increased safety during the day. Visibility of pedestrians and especially children or cyclists can be increased not only by well-chosen clothing but also by various reflective elements, patches, and accessories made of special materials. Reflective material at night can be seen at three times greater distance than white clothing, and at more than ten times greater distance than dark clothing.

At a speed of 75 km / h, the driver needs at least 31 meters (about 1.5 seconds) to realize the danger and respond appropriately. Thus, pedestrians, cyclists and skaters will be given enough time with reflective materials or various elements.

REFLECTING ELEMENTS

By using reflective elements, pedestrians protect their health and life. So their standard equipment, especially in autumn or winter, should include a reflective vest, tape and various illumination on the hand, foot, hat or bike helmet reflective stickers.

Reflective elements for children include safety reflective vest or reflective vest worn on top clothes, ensures good visibility for at least 50 meters and serves to protect children when moving on the road, walking and overall outdoors. The reflective safety strap can be attached to a shoulder, leg or bag as it rolls itself and is suitable for children and adults. For school bag, rucksack or backpack it is possible to buy reflective cover of yellow color, which is well visible from long distance.

It is fastened with sewn rubber and rubber straps and is also ideal for hiking or cycling trips. Reflective elements already used by many manufacturers of clothing and school bags, which can be supplemented with the above-mentioned reflective vests, retractable straps, as well as caps and winter hats with reflective patches, reflective keys, pendants in the shape of various animals, etc.

Even shoes equipped with reflective elements as standard reflective elements should always be placed on moving parts of the body, ideally on the upper or lower limbs. To be sufficiently visible, they must not be overlapped by additional layers of clothing or carry baggage. Having reflective elements on your clothes is not an expensive thing or a disgrace.

The Prime Minister's response to the students

Students from Helena School attended Wednesday's event at Knistad Gerrard. They represent the future and were there to join Camilla Rickstrand's and Erik Lundgren's lecture series Skaraborg's Sessions. They got to mingle with many heavy names in the business.

Jacob Backhaus, Mathilda Hansson, Ella Regstorp, Noah Törnqvist, and Tilda Hellgren all attend the Helena School's advanced education in mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry.

In their spare time, they have competed as Team Dahlénium and been successful.

"We participate in the world's largest innovation and technology competition for young people," the students explain.

They competed for the first time in 2016 when they came second in the qualifiers. In 2017 they won the qualification and went on to the Scandinavian final in Oslo.

That went well and we will represent Sweden in Hungary in a kind of final where 50 countries and 70 teams participated.

Each year there is a new theme and last year was the theme "Problems that can arise between humans and animals" when the students made a reflective tape for cows.

It was after 40 cows had died in connection with a traffic accident outside Hjo and a fire truck drove straight into a cowherd. The driver of the fire truck had been blinded by an oncoming vehicle and the cows did not appear in the dark.

This was an easy solution to the problem since it is easy to attach to the animal's necklace.

One of the elements of the competition was to build an armored robot, it was programmed to solve various missions on a track under time pressure.

It has been crowned one of Sweden's best lego robots, says Jacob Backhaus.

A colorful police car caught the eye in Kuopio

On the streets of Kuopio on Tuesday, one could see a brighter and more colorful police car. Kuopio police are testing a new car this week, which should be available to police throughout the country early next year.

Field manager Mikko Antikainen says that a model of European police cars has been sought for the car and the reflective materials on its sides and rear.

Yellow is used elsewhere in Europe, although we have more moderate reflective materials than, for example, England.

Reflective material seeks safety, for example in traffic accidents. Motorists can detect the emergency vehicle further away, for example on the highway.

Most of the year is dark and, especially on motorways and highways, not everyone is quite enough, although there are emergency vehicles on the roadside. Also, the new car has yellow LEDs in the rear windows that can indicate the direction in which the car is to pass the accident site, Antikainen describes.

The new car attracted a lot of attention

There is an extra hatch on the side of the new police car, which allows you to put equipment on the opposite side of the door, for example. In the rear, the side windows have been removed and space has been made easier to clean.

Antikainen says that the police car received positive feedback on the first day and garnered attention on the streets of Kuopio.

Yes, it has caught my eye, but at least no one has started to laugh, Antikainen throws.

The new police car circles Finland for test use. After Kuopio, it moves elsewhere to Northern Savonia and then to Oulu. Experiences are collected from all areas. Existing blue-and-white police cars are due to be replaced with new, more colorful ones early next year.

"Visibility is super important"

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.