A growing number of municipalities have chosen to act. Stockholm City is now recommending that municipal preschools only use vests with Velcro, reports Svenska Dagbladet.
There have been some questions from worried parents related to the incident in Umeå, said Sofia Lindestad, communicator at the preschool administration, to TT earlier on Tuesday.
Other municipalities have either decided to stop using reflective vests at their preschools or are looking into the matter. This applies, for example, to Alingsås, Arjeplog, Bengtsfors, Dals-Ed, Falkenberg, Falköping, Färgelanda, Gotland, Gävle, Huddinge, Karlstad, Luleå, Mellerud, Munkedal, Skara, Skövde, Torsby, Uddevalla, Vara, Vänersborg, Åmål, and Örebro.
Gothenburg City is pausing the use of reflective vests on preschool yards, but they will still be used during outings to ensure the children are visible in traffic.
Since we don't really know the reason, it's better to be safe than sorry, says preschool principal Eva Berg to P4 Gothenburg.
The Police Investigate
The news that the boy who was seriously injured at a preschool in Umeå last week has died came on Monday.
The police are investigating the incident as manslaughter, but it is unclear exactly how the accident occurred. Umeå Municipality has, pending the investigation, urged its preschools to review their routines to ensure that reflective vests and similar equipment used during outdoor activities are not hazardous.
On Tuesday, Umeå Municipality also decided that only reflective vests with Velcro fasteners will be allowed on preschools, reports P4 Västerbotten.
A Precautionary Measure
Some other municipalities are acting just like Umeå, as a vest with Velcro is easier to release if it gets stuck in something.
We have immediately decided to remove all vests with zippers, says Katarina Magnusson, principal of a preschool area in Filipstad Municipality, to Nya Wermlands-Tidningen.
Lena Gustavsson, Region Gotland's preschool principal, says to P4 Gotland that it's a precautionary measure.
Right now, we need to wait for the investigation into the accident – what type of vest it was – but until then, we need to take some precautions, she says to the radio.
