Editor-in-Chief of “MK in Serpukhov”: “Chernotrope: time invisible”

I was on my way home the other day. The road is empty, the headlights illuminate the asphalt, everything is calm. And suddenly, right in front of the nose, five meters from the car, a figure emerges from the darkness. A man. Not at the crossing, in dark clothes, without a flashlight - a classic. I just stepped on the road with confidence that I could see him. I didn't see it. Until the last second. Brake to the floor, heart to the heels. I got it. But I stayed in the car for a long time and woke up. I thought I was getting gray at the time.

And it's not uncommon. According to the Moscow city traffic police, for three quarters of this year, collisions on pedestrians accounted for almost a third of all accidents with children. And of all the affected pedestrian children, only 19 people had retroreflective elements. Nineteen. One hundred and a half. In Serpukhov, the situation is also alarming: only last year, fifty accidents with pedestrians were registered in the district, in which eleven children and adolescents were injured.

I'm still amazed at this blind belief that the driver sees everything. Well, the lights are on, so I'll be noticed. And the fact that the headlights are shining forward, and you are standing on the side in a dark coat - it somehow does not count. And you go about your business, confident that you are seen. They see you when you are only a few feet away. Not because the driver is bad. Because you weren't really visible. Until the last second.

Autumn is not only beautiful leaves and cozy evenings. It's also a time when we all need to be a little more attentive to each other. Drivers should slow down when it is dark and waiting for no one. Pedestrians don’t play roulette with their lives. One life. And she doesn't have a "reverse" button.