Reflectors for horse and carts
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Horses and carts in rural Romania
Horses and carts are a way of life that has never changed in rural Romania and though is lovely to see is also a major problem for other road users and the cause of many accidents each year. The horse and cart really gets the job done as can cross even water laiden land and beaten earth tracks that even 4wd vehicles cannot cross. The problem lies though in the fact that you will find also horse and carts on main national roads because these often go through villages or cross them at intersections thus dangers appear all to often specially if the owner of the horse and cart has also consumed alcohol or the driver of a motorized vehicle the same.
Rural peasants have grown up using the horse and cart for generations and is a way of taking for instance produce to sell in nearby town markets, taking children to school, taking a sick one to the family doctors or the wife to the village shop, moving furniture, transporting wood or farm implements and collecting natural food for animals after harvest has left scraps behind as well as straw bales also for the animals bed.
Because of a lack of education in road safety combined with freedom of the roads as no road test for competence is required to use a horse and cart it is easy to see dangers when modern cars, lorries and public transport like buses all mix along with the very slow horse and cart on roads.
St RCHF in its rural support of the peasant families came up with an idea to have a reflector plate made in highly visible 3m material that could be easily fitted to a horse cart at the back. This we found from the police is where most accidents happen when a slow moving horse and cart in special in the night hours with no lights or when is bad visibility on roads such as in fog or heavy rain or snow. A vehicle driver suddenly without warning comes upon a slow unmarked horse and cart from behind at even 50km per hours and the results as fatalities both human of cart occupants as well as often the horse itself. On national roads where legal limits are far higher the danger is far greater of course and can involve also other vehicles.
SPANA a UK based animal charity was impressed with our idea and provided funds to produce the first 1,000 highly visible reflector plates and we have funded also many more since each year as we take and offer free of charges to owners of horses and carts in rural villages ad have often had the support of police officers ad local Mayors in this valuable life saving accident prevention project that helps reduce road traffic accidents for all road users.
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Stichting Romanian Children’s’ Humanitarian Foundation receives some monthly donations from long standing supporters who recognize the importance of our work that brings hope and raises standards for the poorest of people in eastern Europe today including both children and the old aged people who suffer the most when living in hard circumstances. We educate children to a better standard in pre schools and schools via the superb Timmy Mouse educational aids that allow every child to learn with ease, plus provide essential school materials to many a child who’s parents have no financial means, support families in difficulty to raise their heads above water and allow a healthier lifestyle, plus help the sick back to health in well designed projects and also provide summer holiday camps for children without the possibility of even a days holiday and much more besides.
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