Hi-Viz, sensible precaution or victim blaming?

[snorri]

http://rdrf.org.uk/2013/10/31/hi-vi...trians-sensible-precaution-or-victim-blaming/

 

[ufkacbln]

Robert Davis........

There is a brilliant book by him

Death on the Streets: cars and the mythology of road safety

 

[Biker Joe]

As a cyclist I would advocate' Be Safe Be Seen'. Happy in the knowledge that I am that much more visible to others.
As a driver I am pleased when I can easily see cyclists or pedestrians when they are wearing Hi Vis jackets or other items.

 

[Kies]

for a cyclist it's a sensible precaution, same as using at least one front and one rear light after dark.

 

[glenn forger]

Unlit cyclists feature in fewer than 2% of vehicle/cyclist collisions. I think I read black shows up better in daylight? May be wrong.

 

[Kies]

Unlit cyclists feature in fewer than 2% of vehicle/cyclist collisions. I think I read black shows up better in daylight? May be wrong.

what percentage of cyclists are unlit, and are wearing black after dark?

 

[TheDoctor]

Reflectives and lights are visible from huuuuuuge distances.
Hi-viz on it's own - not so much. It's like helmets - makes you feel safer, but doesn't really make you safer.
*hides*

 

[RedRider]

Another good OP there, snorri. That BMW education link in the article is beyond satire. Just awful. I'm angry about it.

 

[MontyVeda]

i wear a dreadful 'normal' jacket and will be til spring... it's grey.

I can honestly say that to date, all drivers have managed to avoid me

 

[Ern1e]

Ok going of slightly side ways on this tread last night approx 11.00 pm whilst taking the family mutts out meet a nieghbour returning home after parking his car and he says just watch down the road there is a bloody looney riding a bike with no lights and yes a few moments later said bike rider dressed in black (yep all black) rode past us the nieghbour mutters what a kn*b, so then I ask him did you see the guy on the road bike who just went past ? NO why so it's why the hell did you see the one without lights and the guy that just rode by with enough lights to well you know the story, so please could someone explain this one to me because I always wear Hi Viz night and day 2 lights front and 3 at the rear and one on each wheel and some just do not see me. I am thinking that it may be safer to just wear black dump all the lights and go for it ?

 

[gaz]

Hi-viz? No thanks. I wear all black this time of the year, even at night. My clothing has tactically placed reflectives that are positioned in key locations to make best use of them.
Putting them on the upper body is mostly next to useless.

 

[RedRider]

The link in the OP poses this question:

If

• There is limited, minimal, zero or negative evidence for the short-term benefits of wearing hi-viz clothing when walking or cycling
• There is the possibility that, as hi-viz wearing spreads, people carrying on their daily business using benign modes of transport – which should be seen as mainstream and normal – are possibly more at risk if they do not wear hi-viz
• It seems sensible to suggest that the dominant culture will increase the shift of responsibility away from those who should be primarily held accountable for collisions

Does it not seems a sensible precaution to view the advocacy and wearing of hi-viz as indeed a victim-blaming red herring and part of the problem of danger on the roads?

The BMW campaign is aimed at children. Am I the only one to find it creepy and sinister?

 

[Linford]

Unlit cyclists feature in fewer than 2% of vehicle/cyclist collisions. I think I read black shows up better in daylight? May be wrong.

2%...have you got a source for this number ?

 

[glenn forger]

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/15/cycling-bike-accidents-study

The study, carried out for the Department for Transport, found that in 2% of cases where cyclists were seriously injured in collisions with other road users police said that the rider disobeying a stop sign or traffic light was a likely contributing factor. Wearing dark clothing at night was seen as a potential cause in about 2.5% of cases, and failure to use lights was mentioned 2% of the time.

 

[ianrauk]

Hi-viz? No thanks. I wear all black this time of the year, even at night. My clothing has tactically placed reflectives that are positioned in key locations to make best use of them.
Putting them on the upper body is mostly next to useless.

This....
I do wonder if some people actually don't realise that hi-viz doesn't work at night, under street lighting and headlights and looks like any other 'normal' washed out colour. And as Mort says above.. people do seem to confuse Hi-Viz and reflectives.