Reflect yourself

With the clocks having been wound back to winter time and night once falling up before the afternoon can get much of a look in, the police have reminded pedestrians in Estonia that they are required, by law, to wear reflectors when out and about after dark.

"We can issue fines of up to 600 kroons to anyone not wearing one," said a policeman from a police station somewhere in Tallinn. "But normally we just hand out reflectors, ha ha!" Well, he didn't put it quite like that, but you get the idea.

He also made the proposal that car drivers who see anyone walking in the dark without a reflector should alert the police to their location, or better yet go and chide them themselves. This is risible for a number of reasons - if they're not wearing a reflector, drivers are less likely to see them in the first place; they should not be making phone calls whilst behind the wheel in any case; and the police must surely have better things to do than chase down non-reflector-wearing pedestrians - but is nice in theory.

I was recently given a spiffy new one that looks a bit like a snowflake-shaped disco ball. And since I don't want to add to the 280 statistics killed or injured last year in accidents involving them not wearing reflectors, I shall attach it to my outerwear at once.