Livestock wear reflectors to prevent road accidents on grasslands

HOHHOT — Herdsmen in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region are being encouraged to attach reflective tape to livestock to prevent them from causing road accidents at night.

The regional traffic police bureau launched a trial in August, distributing the reflective tape free of charge to herders living near roads surrounding tourist resorts in the region's five prefectures and cities.

The tape, made from PVC and reflective crystals, withstands wear and tear and is resistant to low temperatures.

Livestock wearing the tape around their legs can be seen from a distance of 200 meters, giving drivers enough time to respond, according the regional traffic bureau.

With increasing numbers of roads being built on the vast grasslands, grazing livestock, including horses, cattle and camels, pose a risk to traffic at night.

The region has reported more than 1,500 traffic accidents involving livestock since 2015, and up to 78 percent occurred at night.

In one extreme case, 12 people were killed and 28 others injured when a semi-trailer crashed into an oncoming sleeping coach as it tried to avoid a horse on an expressway in Hulun Buir in September 2016.

According to the traffic police bureau, since the trial began nighttime traffic accidents involving livestock in the trial areas have decreased by more than 50 percent year on year.

The bureau hopes to continue the trial and possibly extend it to other areas in the future.