As part of the ‘Safe Villages Project’ sponsored by the EBRD in Ukraine, the Road Safety Support Foundation and EASST have published special advice to farmers driving horse carts to help them keep safe on the roads. High visibility jackets and reflectors were distributed to farmers along with leaflets containing information for horse cart users on the importance of visibility on the roads.
The leaflet was distributed widely among the farmers
High visibility clothing, reflectors and lights give vehicle drivers a valuable 3 seconds extra ‘reaction time’ to avoid agricultural vehicles on the roads. Those 3 seconds are equal to a car, driven at 90 kmh, traveling the length of a football field. These facts are set out in the advice leaflet for horse cart drivers. The leaflet also contains information on regulations in Ukraine on road use by farm vehicles.
A horse cart driver uses his new high visibility jacket
The EASST and Road Safety Support Foundation team met with farmers and other villagers in the villages of Ivanivka, Berezivka and Solonka – situated along the M06 road where a high level of casualties have occurred including a number of incidents involving horse carts. EASST will do further work on this important issue and hopes to expand this initiative to other countries in the region.
