High viz vest a must?

[soulful dog]

Suffered my first accident today when a lorry pulled out from a junction and hit the back wheel of the bike - thankfully just a sprained wrist and some cuts and bruises, and rear wheel of bike buckled - but it raises the question for me of is a high-viz vest a must when you are out on your bike no matter what the weather is like?

The guy just didn't see my cycling along the road as he came up to the junction, but since today was a very clear, sunny day, and his view was completely unhindered (no parked cars) do you just have to accept that accidents like this can happen because cyclists can be a bit of a blind spot for drivers?

I've had a bike for about a year now but have only just in the past few months started to try and use it regularly (today was the first time I'd ridden home after work) and typically it happened on one of the few bits of the route that aren't a cycle path. I'm not particularly nervous of cycling in traffic though, but I get the feeling this might make me a bit now

 

[HLaB]

Sounds like that idiot wouldn't of saw you, even if you were dressed up as a Christmas tree. I'm glad you're OK but I wouldn't rely on a Hi-Vis. People will be along any moment now to give you endless advice.

 

[Willow]

Unlucky, I got caught by a lorry a few years ago who I am sure didn't see me all I could think of was to hold onto the bike for dear life and hope I didn't come off. At the time I remember being very grateful I didn't have my son on the back there is no way I would have kept my balance.

I too would be very nervous, but confidence will come back.

 

[Tynan]

hi viz helps but an awful lot of accidents like this are down to pure careless and shoot drivers, in broad daylight hi viz makes little difference I think

dusk and night time I think hiviz becomes more important

take it the bloke put his hands up and will be paying for repairs?

 

[RedBike]

I started a very similar thread in the commuting section
http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=346425#post346425

It would seem that hi-viz works well in the dark but is next to useless during the day.

 

[Maz]

I wouldn't say hi-viz was useless during daylight. Depends on your commute. I ride on 70 dual-carriageways and if they can see me from a mile away, all the better.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Doesn't sound like anything much would have helped with that particular 'driver' (more like a passenger on that occasion, it would seem ...), but in general I'd say hi-vis tends to be noticed.

For the ultimate in protection from rear-end collisions, I highly recommend a Dinotte daylight warning light. These are amber, and show up well even on a bright sunny day. I find that when that is strobing away, the majority of traffic tends to stay behind me until I actively wave them past. :-)

I suspect the combination of unusual vehicle and FOAD flashing amber light creates sufficient confusion about what sort of vehicle I am that they play safe.

Ben

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I'll tell you how this happened ... he didn't look around his mirror. I've very nearly pulled out in front of cyclists in exactly the same way in a truck because it's very easy for a bike to be hidden behind the side mirror. Unless you get eye contact with the driver, or you can see him or her looking around or under the mirror like wot I do these days, assume s/he hasn't seen you.

 

[soulful dog]

That probably sounds about right Rhythm Thief. He's just glanced both ways as he was coming up to the give way and thought, "great the road is clear" - bang! Thankfully it wasn't anywhere near as scary as Willow's experience sounds, but cheers, I realise I'll need to be more wary of larger vehicles at junctions in future.

Incidentally, reading some of the stuff mentioned in that thread on the commuting forum about high-viz vests is why I've not bothered about getting one (once or twice a fortnight isn't exactly commuting anyway!).

The driver admitted it was completely his fault and just never even saw me. Thankfully, he was able to give me a lift home (after he'd made a couple of deliveries on route!) and gave me the details of the company he worked for etc, so I'm hoping when I phone them next week they'll be helpful about covering the cost of repairs.

Can't get the bike booked in until the week after next though. It's a pity as I'm off work next week and had been looking forward to trying to have another go at a couple of routes I've just started using. Ah well, at least I can still ride my bike and he didn't hit me half a second earlier!

 

[andy_wrx]

It would seem that hi-viz works well in the dark but is next to useless during the day.

Depends what you mean by 'hi-viz'

That known as 'dayglo' is excellent for daylight, particularly poor light situations, but useless at night.

At night, you need reflective bands/patches (as well as lights and reflectors on the bike).

Many hi-viz waistcoats (NB not 'vests', l-mac - a vest is an undergarment...) of course have both, but they do sell them without reflectives and people ride around merrily wearing them at night thinking they're doing the right thing but might as well not bother...

 

[yello]

I recall some report or other a few years back that suggested that people are becoming 'hi-viz blind'... there's so much of it about that they filter it out... or something.

Anyway, the driver didn't see you because he wasn't looking for you... he was looking for cars. I doubt hi-viz would have changed that. You'll see the same in pedestrians too; they'll look past you, almost through you, to look for cars but not AT you. The fact you are there just isn't registering. That's why eye contact can be so important. If you can establish that then there's a chance you've been noticed. "If" and "chance" but better than nothing.

That's why I don't like cars with dark windows; you can't see where the driver is looking.

Don't be afraid to stop if you're not sure about a driver's intention. I've done it a few times. There's just to much to loose by assuming you have been seen. Mercifully, most drivers are attentive. Well, sufficiently anyway!

 

[HJ]

At the end of the day no matter how visible you try to make your self, you can't make driver see you. Wearing Hi-Viz will help those who look to see you, but will make not difference to those who don't, and they are the ones you have really got to worry about...

 

[andygates]

If his view was unhindered and the sightline was clear and there was plenty of time, then hiviz won't have mattered a damn. He either wasn't looking, or he was doing one of those "sweeping looks" that somehow misses out some (usually moving) objects. *

Hiviz might make you feel safer, but it will do nothing to point a driver's eyeballs towards you or to connect them to the driver's brain.



* No, really, it's to do with brain wiring or something.

 

[sheddy]

My 2d worth. Wear a hi-viz unfastened so that it flaps in the wind. Bit like a flag.

 

[Blue]

FWIW I noticed a drop in the number of 'pull-out' scares when I started wearing hi-viz tops a couple of years ago. Having said that, I also try to get eye contact and ride well out into the road to maximise the chances of being noticed.