French town: Mushroom pickers must wear high-vis vests

The Mairie of Jarsy, in the Savoie (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) has published a mayoral decree making it obligatory for anyone picking mushrooms in the countryside to wear a fluorescent jacket that would be clearly visible to hunters.

Mushroom pickers will be required to wear the jacket for every hunting day they go out - which means on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The decree, which has been publicised in the commune on large signs, says the idea is to “been seen and avoid any accidents”.

The rule is largely symbolic, as pickers who do not wear the jackets will not be punished; although they are at a greater risk of accidents if they do not, the mairie has said.

The move comes barely two weeks after the accidental death of a cyclist, British man and French resident Marc Sutton, who was killed by a hunter while he cycled a VTT trail in Montriond, in the Haute-Savoie on October 13.

In the wake of his death, campaigners have called for tighter restrictions on hunting and for harsher sanctions to be given to those who accidentally shoot anything they did not intend to hit.