A warning has been issued to parents after a viral photo showed the impact of the colour of clothes that your child wears while out and about.
With autumn now well and truly underway – and winter not far behind – we know it’s important to wrap little ones up before we leave the house.
Naturally, sometimes it’s a bit of a battle, as any of you will know if you’ve tried to pop a hat on a feisty toddler, or found yourself asking for the TWENTIETH time where your eight-year-old's other glove is.
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But your child’s winter outfit isn’t just important for warmth, it’s also for safety.
A photo of a little kid went viral a couple of years ago for proving precisely that – largely because on first glance it just looked like a picture of a road.
The image, which was originally taken on a road in Switzerland by someone called Christian Thomas, was shared by Mini First Aid on Facebook and Instagram.
“It's hard to believe, but there is the same child on the picture two, wearing dark clothes,” the caption said.
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“Zoom into the picture to see it!
“Please make sure your kids are wearing bright colours to stay visible for drivers. Especially this time of the year with the early darkness and autumn weather - it’s not worth the risk!”
In one image, the child is wearing a bright yellow coat, along with a colourful hat and boots, while in the other, they’re wearing darker garments.
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The coat is so dark, that you can’t even see them.
Commenting on the post, one person said: “I'm a massive believer in this, my little boy looks like a traffic cone in his reflective coat from Next.”
Someone else said: “My son had a dark coat from Next a few years ago and it had reflective panels on it on the back. Really all dark children’s coats should have them as standard.”
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A third wrote: “This is why schools saying in their uniform policy that kids should wear dark coats is ludicrous!”
A fourth also suggested their own idea, adding: “I’ve sewed reflective bands round the arms of my kids coats for this exact reason! A friend did it & I thought it was a fab idea for winter.”
However, another warned: “Totally agree but please don’t think that a bright colour always shows up! I have had two near misses recently while driving towards a small village. The bright yellow was completely hidden by the bright lights of the village behind.”
Jess Hardiman