The bright vest of visibility

remember to clean it though as my white helmet gets rather grubby this time of year. Maybe I should get a poilce rep paint job for the bike???

Originally Posted by Mogs

I wear a Sam Browne reflective belt, I don't feel any safer with it, but my wife less concerned about my safety, so I'll continue to ride with it.

I had one of those when I started riding (about 10 years ago). I just found that it gave the taxi drivers something to aim at.

My Kriega rucksack has high-vis panels front and back. I don't know how well they work though.

Sorry but for me Hi Viz vests are not only an abomination but serve no real purpose on a bike at all. If it could be proven that they are indeed a means of preventing acidents then believe me your Nanny Government would have the wearing of them Law by now.

If someone driving a car is not looking or paying attention you could dress up like Santa but your still gonna get hurt.

As an aisde over here it is now law for you to were a High Vis vest if you step out of a broken down car,passengers and all. Is this the case in the U.K? I am out of touch you see.

[empty]

I have a high vis T-shirt which lives on top of my cordura jacket.

Does it make a difference? Probably not. Even with a bright yellow bike, high vis top, light coloured helmet, loud can and headlights, I still get people trying to drive into me because they don't look. Ride like you're expecting it. More useful if you've had to stop at the side of the road at night though.

From the other point of view, when I'm in the car, high vis makes little difference since if they are behind you, there is little or no white light shining on them (similar problem if you are pulling out of side roads, no light shining on high vis = no visibility), and if they are in front, you should be able to see them anyway.

MT

I nearly always wear my hiViz jacket on the bike. The exception is when I'm riding in a group and the other rides are not wearing one. If I'm on my bright yellow bike with a high viz jacket, and the rider behind me is in black leathers, on a black bike, then people see me, but not the rider behind.

"oh look, the motorbike's gone past, I can pull out now"

The effect is much much worse, if the rider in black is between two hiviz bikes. So I leave the hiviz bits off in these cases, and now people can see the group.

I know some people are not going to see me regardless of what I do, but I will give them every opportunity

I now wear the high viz jacket when I'm walking my dog as I have to cross several roads. She'd have a hiviz jacket on if I could find that that fit.

My Hi Vi is sitting on my heavy (and waterproof) winter jacket, but as it's not been raining that much I haven't been wearing it. I ride in a black lid too

What I now do whilst filtering in heavey traffic is run with main beam on. I know it's contencious, but I look at it from a very selfish point of view.... If they see me I'm more likely to be safe. And suprisingly I get very few complaints from cagers....

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I haven't been riding long but do have a high vis vest. It doesn't automatically make me feel safer, I mostly reserve its use for night/low light/fog and motorway driving. It keeps the missus happy, and if it can be the difference between someone in a car quickly checking their blindspot when changing lanes on a motorway and seeing 'something' or not then its worth it.

The fact of the matter is, they cost virtually nothing (mine was £2.75) so cost isn't the inhibitor, but they simply don't look 'cool'. I have a lid (Arai Astro R: Schwantz), not plain white but with plenty of white on it. I'm also keen to use some finely cut strips of reflective self-adhesive 'police blue' 3M tape somewhere along the side of the bike. See www.bikeseen.co.uk. It is almost the same blue as my curvey when its not lit and then goes electric when light bounces of it, and its£3.50/meter.

Hi vis may not make a difference (especially from the front when there is a nice bright headlight) and I'm working on the best possible defence their is: experience. But that (of course) takes time and whilst I'm a newbie it could be useful under certain driving conditions....

C

I've got a hi-vis vest folded into the clear pocket of my backpack. I figured it would be near pointless wearing it properly with the back pack on.

The way I see it is it won't stop the ones who don't actually look.

The ones who DO look but don't see may have a slightly better chance of spotting the hi-vis and change their actions... it's a long shot, but it may work.

I still ride like no-one's seen me tho...

the morning of my test (1979) I went to the local halfords and bought a da-glo sash - I spent ages the night before cleaning the bike and polishing my boots untile you could almost see your face in them - the sash finished off the job

my test was a disaster (many stories that might be shared on other topics were gathered that day) HOWEVER the cleaning, scrubbing, polishing AND the da-glo sash had done their job of creating a suffieciently good impression that I passed anyway

job done, I went back to Halfords, made up some story about the sash and asked for my money back - one full refund later, that was me back into all black leather - 26 years on, no-one has run into me yet so I don't think I'm about to get back into hi-vis again

[Quiff Wichard]

superb thread- a good read..

I have one but dont wear it cos I ate all the pies this last month and it pops open now and flaps around like prince charles' ears on the big one (blackpool not camilla !!)

After reading this though I may meet halfway and buya functional white helmet for winter use.!! ....

my buffalo full outfit has all reflective silver strips on!-- how effective they are I know not- as I dont see meself.!

I do however have 2 in the boot of my car in case it breaks down in the dark and Kim has to push me !