Traffic police officers are intensifying control on the roads during dark hours.

During one of the patrols, a journalist from the "Lepel Krai" newspaper joined law enforcement officers. The primary focus was on identifying traffic violations, explaining road safety rules to pedestrians who were "invisible" in the dark, and monitoring rural settlements.
It's 7:00 AM. Our route takes us towards the village of Staroie Lyadno, as it's a busy road and residents often walk to and from work along the roadside.
Cars approach us, their headlights blinding, even on low beam. It must be said that visibility of the surroundings is not optimal. In such conditions, it is very difficult to spot a pedestrian, especially in winter when they are mostly wearing dark clothing. It's like looking for a black cat in a dark room.
And here are the first pedestrians, whom we only noticed thanks to small reflectors. Although some citizens consider them a "useless" item of clothing, believe me, they have saved many lives.
-- Look how difficult it is for a driver to see a person on the roadway. The man is walking correctly – towards the traffic, and he has a retroreflective element on his arm. If he were without a reflector, he would be completely invisible, -- says Senior State Traffic Inspector Dmitry Misnik.
Next, a barely visible male silhouette, and he is without a reflective element:
-- I agree, I violated traffic rules. I wore a different jacket today, but I promise to correct my behaviour, -- the pedestrian tells State Traffic Inspector Dmitry Zolotukha.
For the first offence, a preventive conversation is held; a second similar stop could result in a fine.
We approach a settlement, and I believe that disciplined citizens who wear retroreflective elements live here.
It was pleasant to encounter a small group of schoolchildren, even though it was during holidays. All of them, without exception, were marked with reflectors. Following them were students from an educational institution – and we were pleased about them too. It is evident that teachers pay a lot of attention to this issue.

We also thought about passenger transport during this early morning. It is worth noting that in 15 minutes, more than 10 taxis drove past me in Lepel. It turns out that

their services are actively used by the residents of Lepel.
For example, Oleg Afanasyev has been working in this field for six months, with a total of 20 years of experience. When asked about his attitude towards pedestrians without reflective elements, he categorically replied: "Bad!"
-- When you drive during rush hour, which is mainly the time before work, pedestrians often cross the road without paying attention to traffic. You have to peer closely. If a person has a reflective element, there are no such problems, -- the taxi driver replied.
On Depovskaya Street, inspectors spoke with Sergey Kurash from Lepel, who was also hurrying to work. Law enforcement officers advised him to cross to the other side to walk facing oncoming traffic and not to use headphones on busy streets.
The traffic police officers had a preventive conversation with all forgetful individuals and explained the potential consequences of such a careless attitude towards their own safety.
On Borisovsky Trakt street in Lepel, we notice a cyclist. The headlight is on, he is visible from afar, but for some reason, upon seeing a DPS vehicle, the man increased his speed and turned into a side street. "He must have violated something after all," -- I thought.
We remind you that when cycling or riding a moped on the road at night or in conditions of insufficient visibility, the following must be switched on: a headlight (lamp) emitting white light at the front, and a lamp emitting red light at the rear. In this case, outside populated areas, cyclists must wear high-visibility clothing with retroreflective elements (except when riding on a bicycle path).
Let's also recall reflective elements! They allow a pedestrian to be seen in the headlights from 400 meters away. This distance provides an opportunity to reduce the speed of a car in time. Many accidents involving pedestrians occur because drivers do not have time to notice a person in the dark, brake, or avoid them. Reflective elements are designed precisely to prevent such unfortunate incidents.
Natalia Khrapovitskaya.