The presence of a visor in a car is often controversial, and it is worth clarifying a few things about this. If there is no other reason, then in a preventive manner in the event that the Hungarian ordeal will lead to such a dispute with the police officer.
As with many other things, such as snow chains or winter tires, this is perhaps best illustrated by saying that having a vision jacket in a car is not mandatory, but it is highly recommended. At least here in Hungary, because the regulations of European countries in this regard are very changeable. In English: It is true that we keep a vision jacket in the car as often as they travel in the car. Compared to the cost of driving, it’s a penny thing, plus it’s a fairly compact accessory that takes up space and we’re going to find some consistent space in every car – I’ll get to that place right away.
Let’s first take a look at what the current legislation stipulates: Outside a residential area, a pedestrian on the road, in the stop lane, on the sidewalk – with the exception of closed mass traffic – must wear a reflective jacket (clothing) at night and in a state of limited visibility.
This is the appropriate part, by which we need to collect where, how many jackets we need to wear and when to wear them.
As you can see, traffic does not require the correct number of reflective vests to be a mandatory accessory to the vehicle – in fact, it doesn’t mention the car in a word – which simply means that on the way we don’t know a police certificate to show the jacket, there is no penalty yet. This is important because there are countless misconceptions about it, and stories pop up on social media that a car has been fined for not wearing a vision jacket in the car. However, no fine can be imposed in Hungary, simply because no driver without a vision jacket in his car violates any law.
But: the moment we get out of the car for a moment without a vision jacket in the conditions of the above quote – outside a populated area, at night or in poor visibility conditions, we immediately violate the law. In such a situation, we change from driver to pedestrian in the blink of an eye, so the aforementioned legislation applies to us. The same applies to other travelers with us.
However, there may be an event anytime the above facts materialize: puncture, refill of windshield washer fluid, stop to help others, etc. Poor formulation of vision can lead to different interpretations of the law, but fog or rain definitely limits visibility, both of which are fairly common weather phenomena in Hungary as well. It does not hurt to know that, of course, it is not necessary to wear a jacket under certain conditions in designated parking spaces or, for example, outside the areas inhabited by gas stations.
The wording, which at first seems not too bad, almost hides the phrase “outside of the residential area,” although it is also an important part of the matter: Inside a residential area, there is no strange dark night, it is not necessary to wear a jacket when getting out of the car. To receive it for our benefit, if we deem appropriate. This could be, for example, part of the road inside a residential area without general lighting, as we can greatly improve our chances of survival by pulling the jacket over ourselves in the event of a puncture.
It is worth knowing that flak jackets greatly increase visibility 2-3 times even on bright days, and poor visibility conditions, especially at night, can increase our vision by 5-10 times, so that the other driver can detect us from hundreds of meters.
Based on the above, it is probably clear that it is better to keep some reflective vests in the car (and some other things) and it makes sense to place at least one in the passenger compartment so that the driver can access and pick it up right away before getting out of the car. Other jackets can be placed in the trunk of a car – for example, they deserve something in the side cabin rather than hiding under the spare wheel – where the “dressed” driver can take them out and distribute them to passengers waiting for a “life jacket”. It’s also not a problem finding space for all the jackets in the passenger compartment, of course, but there’s no doubt that despite all the efforts made by car manufacturers, storage space in the passenger compartment is often scarce.
However, the jacket can certainly fit either in a glove compartment, in a door pocket, or in a compartment under the armrest, but in many vehicles under the steering wheel we can often find small compartments where the reflective jacket can fold well.
