Hi-Viz vests

[Doctor T]

Over the months ive noticed more and more riders are wearing yellow Hi-Viz vests. Years ago back in the 80s you only saw people on Mopeds and scooters wearing Sam Brown belts. Now you cant walk down the street without being bombarded by Hi-Viz vests everywhere. I read a report a few years ago from the UK H&S executive that said as the growth of wearing yellow Hi-Viz your brain starts to dismiss the colour. You may notice that Orange Hi-Viz stands out more as it is less used. Yellow/Green shade Hi-Viz vests are the most efficient colour to stand out. This is due to not a lot being used. For reference, Orange is for daytime use and Yellow is for lowlight places. Pink well you can make up your own mind.
What are your thoughts and do you wear a Hi-Viz vest or belt?

[Arek]

Personally I do not wear it. However I have big white bike ;-) with auxiliary lights always on. And white helmet with blue graphic. Apparently graphics are more visible than solid colors.
Ride in that set-up for years and so far was OK. You always find some people who ignore you/ claim don't see you. But for that kind of people you probably can be in flames and they will still not see you. Your awareness is the crucial part in your own safety. I'm sorry if I'll sound cruel, but on the road when I'm on bike I treat everyone like they want to kill me in many ways

From the other point I bought a hi-viz harness for my wife. She is fairly new raider, have black bike and black textiles. This harness is quite great contrast to the clothes and bike. But I am still with her all the time right now, until she will not feel good on her own.

[burridge01]

Don't wear anything hiviz as such. My helmet has reflectors as well as me Riche jacket/trousers.Me bike is lit up like a Christmas tree on acid and if they can't see that then there's no hope for hiviz doing anything.I do however carry hiviz orange vests in the box when out on the bike in case of a breakdown.
Can't wait to see who wears the yellow hiviz vest with "POLITE" printed on it

[Elkinell]

.... Your awareness is the crucial part in your own safety. I'm sorry if I'll sound cruel, but on the road when I'm on bike I treat everyone like they want to kill me in many ways

^^THIS^^ Some sort on Hi-Vis is never a bad idea but only the ones that notice it will see you. There are drivers of all vehicles who just don't pay enough attention to other road users and nothing short of a prison term for causing death by dangerous driving will change that. Years ago I saw one of those big Triumph cruisers with twin headlights that he had rigged to flash alternatively. The rush hour traffic parted like the red sea. No doubt illegal but I bet he's still alive. Having said that, I'm in the market for a new lid and it'll be white just because I fancy a change

[Glenn]

I don't have a dayglo vest, but my crash helmet is dayglo yellow.

[Steve398]

To be honest I spent years wearing hi-viz riding Police bikes, so the last thing I wanted to do on my own bike was to dress up in fluorescent yellow. However, I bought an air vest and they come in a nice bright yellow and it is very useful for parting the traffic when I’m filtering, because of course an RT + yellow vest = Police Officer!

If perchance you do get knocked off it certainly won’t harm for your insurance claim to be strictly adhering to the Highway Code will it?

[Casbar]

Spent years wearing one for work on a bike. For the last 9 years been blood biking, so we have to wear dayglo. Originally I had a black air vest, then at night and bad weather was wearing a dayglo vest, so when I changed my air vest, I bought dayglo. They are very good at night and when on the continent I don't have to carry a separate dayglo vest. Never ride without my air vest now, so always have the dayglo one on. You can also buy orange and black air vests.

[Steve398]

Hampshire Police initially issued a day-glow orange vest, then there was some research as to whether a yellow would be better. The paper concluded that the current issue was more visible during daylight hours and the yellow at night, so concluding we were more at danger during the night they changed to yellow.

There is a cyclists vest with a half/half design made by Altura as shown, although if your bike has a topbox a large percentage will be hidden from behind of course.There are more resilient but similar makes on the market in various colours.

66BBA930-9E7E-4B70-8671-C322B6C694FB.jpeg (151.62 KiB) Viewed 2550 times

[David and Sally]

I wear one. Why not? I use DRLs and have a yellow flash design on my crash helmet.

Why not take every opportunity to be seen?

[Glacial]

I wear a hi-viz vest and helmet and I have hi-viz reflective tape on the bike. My view is that they are all blind idiots and if I can cause one of them to hesitate from performing the manoeuvre that will kill me, it is a big win.

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[Doctor T]

I wear a hi-viz vest and helmet and I have hi-viz reflective tape on the bike. My view is that they are all blind idiots and if I can cause one of them to hesitate from performing the manoeuvre that will kill me, it is a big win.177C053A-6770-4C8C-9AA6-0846917E8600.jpeg

Did you cut the stickers or were they bought?

[exportman]

I wear a hi-viz vest and helmet and I have hi-viz reflective tape on the bike. My view is that they are all blind idiots and if I can cause one of them to hesitate from performing the manoeuvre that will kill me, it is a big win.1

Rather than depend on the chance of someone else hesitating to benefit my safety I prefer to be proactive and adjust my ride. My safety my responsibility.

As for high viz solid blocks of a single colour are easier to see than the potential urban camouflage of one colour bike a different colour jacked then a vest over part of it. Visibility depends on a great deal contrast a yellow vest against a field of rapeseed flowers would be almost invisible. The again a black bike and clothing when in hard shadow would be difficult to spot Most modern 4 wheel vehicle have very large blind spots caused by A & B pillars. Ride like the have not seen you until you are 100% certain they have then still be cautious

I am sure Steve398 will confirm you can be on a police bike blue lights and siren still people don't see you

[Doctor T]

Rather than depend on the chance of someone else hesitating to benefit my safety I prefer to be proactive and adjust my ride. My safety my responsibility.

As for high viz solid blocks of a single colour are easier to see than the potential urban camouflage of one colour bike a different colour jacked then a vest over part of it. Visibility depends on a great deal contrast a yellow vest against a field of rapeseed flowers would be almost invisible. The again a black bike and clothing when in hard shadow would be difficult to spot Most modern 4 wheel vehicle have very large blind spots caused by A & B pillars. Ride like the have not seen you until you are 100% certain they have then still be cautious

I am sure Steve398 will confirm you can be on a police bike blue lights and siren still people don't see you

I've seen a few London Police rider knocked off. Nearly all of then hit from the side

[Glacial]

Did you cut the stickers or were they bought?

I cut them from 75mm wide reflective tape after tracing out the shapes on paper. Took me an hour or so.

[Glacial]

Rather than depend on the chance of someone else hesitating to benefit my safety I prefer to be proactive and adjust my ride. My safety my responsibility.

As for high viz solid blocks of a single colour are easier to see than the potential urban camouflage of one colour bike a different colour jacked then a vest over part of it. Visibility depends on a great deal contrast a yellow vest against a field of rapeseed flowers would be almost invisible. The again a black bike and clothing when in hard shadow would be difficult to spot Most modern 4 wheel vehicle have very large blind spots caused by A & B pillars. Ride like the have not seen you until you are 100% certain they have then still be cautious

I am sure Steve398 will confirm you can be on a police bike blue lights and siren still people don't see you

I entirely agree that my safety is my responsibility and that my observation, anticipation and driving skill is what will get me to the end of a ride right side up. As in my original post, I have to put aside my tendency to regard everyone as pleasant, competent people until proven otherwise and regard everyone as blind idiots when on the road. However,I also acknowledge that I am not perfect, I get tired, distracted or frustrated by road conditions, just like everyone else. I acknowledge that I don’t ride enough to hone my skills to their absolute peak. What the hi-viz does, in my opinion, is give you a very slight edge in an imperfect world. Do I rely on it for safety? Don’t be daft!!