Does high viz make you safer?

[ufkacbln]

Next time you go to the supermarket... will you wear HiViz as you cross the car park?

Tee Supermarket will have a formal risk assessment that says their employees are at risk from muppet drivers and should wear HiViz so that the increased visibility will decrease this risk

Yet the averarge customer ambles across this danger area without such HiViz


http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/VIDEO-P ... story.html


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-de ... e-28153128

http://news.sky.com/story/1130017/boy-9 ... t-car-park

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/111 ... permarket/


Surely this anecdata justifies insisting all supermarket customers wear HiViz?

 

[Fab Foodie]

In my unscientific study of 1 person's riding -
Hi-viz + helmet = experience cyclist .

I'd disagree with that bit. Hi Viz + Helmet = Newbie/Inexperienced.

 

[Southside Mike]

Not really, and may even increase your chances of being involved in a crash, according to this guy's PhD thesis.

http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12855/

Hmm - "non significant increase" = "could just be chance".

I think it is pretty well accepted that in the dark hi-viz doesn't help at all, it is reflectives that show up. My black Altura overtrousrers are amazingly visible from behind (I'm told) because of the movement of the reflective patches.

(At the time of posting, I myself have only skim read the study, so personally can make no claims as to its validity)

 

[bianchi1]

From page 230 (from 310)

"The results should be interpreted with caution for a number of reasons"....you are able to read on if you wish.

When you spend 2 years or more on a PhD and and your conclusions have to be based on a survey of people that by the authors own admission is flawed (recruitment selection bias) it must be a bit of a disappointment, think of the cycling you could have done in all that wasted time.

To quote from the the abstract :

"Failure to recruit the required sample size led to low precision in the estimates of odds ratios and an increase in the risk of incorrectly accepting the null hypothesis"

 

[steveindenmark]

The only thing that will make you safer is not to go out on your bike. My only "clipless" moment was in my own kitchen.

Will it make you more visible? Yesi it will. Will it make you a magnet for other vehicles? Not in my 50 years experience of cycling it wont.

It will make you more visible but what happens after that depends on the driver behind the wheel. The idea that a driver sees you in High vis gear and then his thought process works on the lines that you are an experienced cyclist and therefore he can pass more closely is pure conjecture at best and total rubbish at worse.

When I ride to work at 4 in the morning I reach for my Altura, Night vision, high vis jacket and not the Altura, night vision, blue jacket that hangs next to it. I dont need a guy with letters after his name to write a paper to tell me that it may or not be the right choice.

 

[GrasB]

I'd disagree with that bit. Hi Viz + Helmet = Newbie/Inexperienced.

I was more going for the motorists mind set not the reality. Should have made that clearer. I've had it said to me several times by people that they feel they pass people wearing helmets & hi-viz closer because they're obviously experienced & realise how dangerous it is to cycle. Yes I know that's wrong on so many levels but...

 

[Fab Foodie]

I was more going for the motorists mind set not the reality. Should have made that clearer. I've had it said to me several times by people that they feel they pass people wearing helmets & hi-viz closer because they're obviously experienced & realise how dangerous it is to cycle. Yes I know that's wrong on so many levels but...

Agreed!

 

[Mo1959]

I was more going for the motorists mind set not the reality. Should have made that clearer. I've had it said to me several times by people that they feel they pass people wearing helmets & hi-viz closer because they're obviously experienced & realise how dangerous it is to cycle. Yes I know that's wrong on so many levels but...

Never thought of it like that. Must admit when I see cyclists coming towards me on a gloomy morning, I can see those with nice bright jackets way before those wearing darker colours so must help a bit surely.

 

[summerdays]

I wear a pink gillet a lot of the time to stand out from the standard yellow. But it change what I'm wearing based on the conditions. When you are out just look around and see what you notice, especially in poor conditions such as heavy rain, nighttime or mist, and it's not always the same answer.

Hi-vis will make you more unsafe though if you ride assuming everyone has seen you because you are wearing it. For me it's just an additional thing that comes after being alert and having lights in poor conditions.

 

[GrasB]

Never thought of it like that. Must admit when I see cyclists coming towards me on a gloomy morning, I can see those with nice bright jackets way before those wearing darker colours so must help a bit surely.

The last bit of research I read on the subject of hi-viz came to the conclusion it makes you easier to track once seen but for the most part doesn't help being seen initially. Also studies have repeatedly found very little to no correlation between collision rate & wearing hi-viz.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The only thing that will make you safer is not to go out on your bike. My only "clipless" moment was in my own kitchen..

You went into your kitchen? Do you have a death wish? Kitchens are the most perilous place there is, no wonder you had a clipless moment in there. Frank Zappa even sang a song about it.

 

[Turbo Rider]

I think a flashing light is going to make you stand out far better. Can only really speak for myself, but if theres a flashing light around I'm far more likely to notice it than a static slightly bright colour.

 

[steveindenmark]

You went into your kitchen? Do you have a death wish? Kitchens are the most perilous place there is, no wonder you had a clipless moment in there. Frank Zappa even sang a song about it.

I wish I had heard Franks song before my "Off". Catch little number isn't it?

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Love the black jacket I wear at night

 

[steveindenmark]

There are a couple of good points brought up.

Adrians colour thing is relevant. In the summer when Jannie and I ride together one of us wears a yellow vis vest and yhe other an orange vis vest. I think some people can recognise different colors In different situations more quickly.

I think Turbo riders is sort of right about flashing lights. You will see a flashing light earlier in dark or dusk but you will see a vis vest much quicker in daylight.

I ride with vis vest and lights even during daylight. That's my choice and I am happy with it.

Sometimes I get it all wrong though.