Beware: unsafe safety vests in circulation

In many countries it is mandatory to have a safety vest in the car. Although this is not the case in the Netherlands, it cannot hurt to have a reflective vest in your car. After all, you never know where and when the automobile ship might run aground. The ANWB warns about unsafe safety vests in circulation.

The ANWB, together with its German equivalent ADAC, has conducted research into the quality of the safety vests on the market. The conclusion is that many of them have little or no reflection. Of the fourteen different safety vests tested, no less than 36 percent were labeled ‘unsafe’. They would hardly reflect at all. Let that be exactly what you buy a safety vest for. Five of the fourteen safety vests therefore did not meet European standards. In any case, some of the vests that poorly or barely live up to their name are also for sale in the Netherlands. When purchasing a vest, the ANWB recommends testing the reflective properties of the vest with a light at a distance of three meters. When purchasing, also look for a label that refers to the European EN ISO 20471 standard that the vest should comply with.

As mentioned, in the Netherlands it is not mandatory to have a safety vest in the car. In Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Croatia, Austria and Spain, for example, it is mandatory to have one on board.

The safety vests labeled as safe and unsafe.