Reflective fashion could reduce vehicle-pedestrian collisions, driving expert says

A fashion designer and a psychologistare hoping to reduce traffic accidents by making pedestrians more visible at night.

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Sydney Shepard, creator of SHINE by Illuminate Designs, has stowed seven reflective sashes at seven busy Vancouver intersections.

Chip Scialfa, who has made a career out of studying human perception and driving, plans to do the same starting Monday at two Calgary crosswalks.

"It's really visibility that's the problem for pedestrians. If they can't be seen, they can't be avoided," said Scialfa, who is oftencalled to court as an expert witness in cases involving collisions.

While he doesn't dismiss the fact that many pedestrian-vehicle accidents are the result of reckless, drunk or distracted drivers, Scialfa says even the most vigilant driver could hit someone wearing dark clothing.

"Even someone who is doing their best to be safe is not going to be able to see a darkly-clad pedestrian in many situations in time to stop."

Scialfa will wrap thereflective sashes around light poles at two Calgary intersections 17thAvenueand Fourth StreetS.W. and 6453 Macleod TrailS.W.

The hope is that pedestrians will throw one on before crossing, and once they've made it safely to the other side, take it off and rewrap it to the pole.

Reflective fashion

Shepard, who launched the reflective sash experiment in Vancouver last month, has been selling illuminating fashion accessories online for several years.

The Vancouver fashion designer got the idea after seeingwhat she feltwas a spike inpedestrian-vehicle collisions in her city.

"I just couldn't understand why until I recognized that I was walking around the city all in black and that motorist just couldn't see me. Especially with the rain."

But when Shepardwent looking for somethingreflective to wear with her everyday clothing, she says the selection was"ugly."

"Everything is very neon and looks like the safety workwear, or it's the athletic or cyclingwear. And it's also very expensive because it's always attached to a larger piece, like a jacket. You can't remove it, you can't add it."

Sheparddecided to create her own designs and sellsstraps, belts, cuffs, flower pinsand bands you can wrap around your arms or boots.