40% face hazardous situation due to slippery shoes

As many as two out of five Finns or 40 percent reported having experienced a hazardous situation involving wearing shoes that were not appropriate for the weather during the past year, said a press release of Finnish Road Safety Council referring to a survey report.

“Anticipation of slippery conditions plays a key role in preventing accidents involving slipping and falling. You will not be caught off guard in slippery conditions when you follow pedestrian weather warnings and prepare for slippery conditions with the appropriate footwear or anti-slip guards,” said Kaarina Tamminiemi, the chair of the ‘Pysy pystyssä’ campaign.

According to the survey, the daily commute is usually the most hazardous time in terms of accidents. It should be remembered that slippery conditions affect all, regardless of the way of travelling or age.

“Each one of us is a pedestrian at least for a short while during our day-to-day travel, even if it is just the distance between the car park and the front door to your workplace. People of all ages fall over, it is not just a problem for the elderly. On the contrary, most injuries caused by slipping and falling happen to working-age people. However, the injuries caused by slipping and falling tend to be more severe in the elderly compared to younger people,” Tamminiemi said.

“When people of working age hurt themselves, the costs to their employer and society increase easily due to sick leave – in addition to physical pain and distress, of course,” Tamminiemi added.

When it is slippery outside, everyone should focus on walking. Walking on frozen surfaces and staying upright requires focus and an awareness of people´s surroundings so that they are able to notice areas that lack gritting sand or are uneven or otherwise slippery in time.

“Your brain really can’t multitask, so in reality, multitasking only means switching between paying attention to one thing and then to the other. When you are trying to focus on two things at once, you are going to disrupt either one or both of these tasks. If you are immersed in using your phone, your thoughts and eyes are easily distracted, in which case slippery areas may take you by surprise as you walk,” said Petri Jääskeläinen, Planning Officer at the Finnish Road Safety Council.

If anyone needs to use phone while walking, he or she should stop to do so – just like the person would when driving.

“For pedestrians, the possible consequences may not be as serious as for those who are driving but falling over always causes at least distress and often also physical discomfort. In keeping with the Finnish Road Safety Council’s Finnish language campaign slogan of only driving when driving, you could say that you should only walk when you walk,” Jääskeläinen said.