do "safety vests" really make a difference?

I just bought a bright yellow safety vest with reflectors to wear over my tour master jacket. my bike is bright yellow and my jacket is red (so is my helmet). Do you think these ugly vests make a difference? I want to be as visable as I can be.

I just bought this bike and all I have been hearing since I bought it is horror storys of people getting killed. I am starting to get freaked out but I really enjoy riding.

I think they will help. Especialy with reflectors on it for during the evening and night, you can't emagine from how far you can see someone carying such a security vest...

[timwilky]

No, they just give the cage drivers a better target to aim at.



There is a school of thought that says stuff like reflective vests give the rider a false sense of security as in "They must have seen me in this bright yellow vest" etc. and therefore forget the golden rule, Ride like your invisible, assume nobody can see you and therefore at every junction that car will pull out, the car in front will change lane without indication, check of blind spot etc.

I daresay that someone's done a research paper on it... but the major causes of bike accidents (at least, in the UK) are SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I Didn't See You) looked but didn't see, driver inattentiveness, and driver failure to anticipate movement or speed. Trying to raise your visibility to avoid SMIDSYs must be a good thing - but I'm with Tim on the usefulness of a yellow vest. Being one step ahead, planning, anticipation, and riding like everyone else is a moron are better defences IMHO. Oh, and get some good training.

Can't make things worse can it?

[Viney]

Originally Posted by Jabba-the-Hutt

Can't make things worse can it?

Well they can if said rider has a rucksack on..i mean, whats the point?

Make yourself seen with your road positioning, not a dayglo piece of cloth.

[northwind]

If you wear a rucksack, you can buy hi-viz rucksack covers...

Personally, I'm not convinced they do much except in bad visibility. I'm more convinced as to how useful they could be if you manage to come off your bike on a dark road! I've always thought that in daylight, if they don't see a bike they won't see a vest, and at night you have the tail or headlight, but come off the bike and you have neither, you're just a dark shape on a dark road. If I'm down and hurt, or down and out, I'll take any edge I can get.

PS, don't buy those cheap "reflective" vests you see, they're rubbish. Real hi-viz isn't expensive, but it's far more effective. Get proper rated stuff if you're going to get it at all, or you're just playing.

Originally Posted by Viney

Well they can if said rider has a rucksack on..i mean, whats the point?

That's the first mention of a rucksack in this thread :P

Of course, you are right in those circumstances

Originally Posted by Viney

Make yourself seen with your road positioning, not a dayglo piece of cloth.

Why not do both? Can't hurt (other than on the street-cred front. Not as bad on the street-cred front as a top-box, though ).

And no, I don't wear one - got a couple but never used 'em mainly because I commute wearing a rucksack.

Originally Posted by yellowSV

I just bought this bike and all I have been hearing since I bought it is horror storys of people getting killed. I am starting to get freaked out but I really enjoy riding.

Don't get freaked out! Unfortunately accidents are part of being on a bike but injuries can be prevented/minimised by wearing the right gear. You have to be damn unlucky (or stupid) to kill yourself.

As far as I'm aware there isn't any hard evidence that wearing luminous stuff helps and I personally lean towards the thought that riders will assume they have been seen because they are wearing a luminous vest. I always ride with the assumption that I'm invisible and be ready to act accordingly.

Of course, in my case when I was hit by a car where the driver was asleep, the wearing or not wearing a luminous vest doesn't really matter.

[Viney]

Its going to be one of those things isnt it, like loud cans. There will never be any proof that they work aginst they dont, as statistics arent kept on this. So if you wanna wear one, then do.