I almost started writing something serious on the subject (nocturnal cyclist conspicuity, I mean, not Ulysses), about which I have been having additional thoughts during a period of wintry introspection, which have led to my becoming determinedly even less razzly-dazzly. I have stretched out the life of batteries for my Fenix torch beyond all previous limits. However I haven't really got time, and such efforts are largely wasted on Mr Slow anyway. It seems a more appropriate response to his intractability and pig-headedness to recycle some old writing on the subject, so here are some words I wrote for our local campaign rag yonks ago...
Attack of the Space Lemons
Don't worry – I haven't branched into Sci-Fi short stories. Some of you will recall that I have been somewhat scathing in these pages about the colour pink when it comes to bicycles and cycling accessories. But in fact I don't dislike pink as such – I merely object to its arbitrary association with the feminine. There is, however, one colour that really gets my goat, and we have entered its peak season. I'm talking, of course, about hi-vis yellow. I think it's fair to say that no-one chooses hi-vis yellow clothing for aesthetic reasons. There are some good yellows about, and those with the right attitude and a suitable skin tone might be able to carry off a raceleader's jersey with aplomb, or sport a jaunty headscarf that looks like some kind of homage to Kandinsky. But no one chooses a garment thinking “this is great, but would look better if it were the shade of radioactive custard”.*
So, given that anyone lately taking a constitutional could be forgiven for wondering why The Swans seem to be permanently at home to Norwich City, something else must be going on. It's worth reminding ourselves for a moment that this stuff isn't compulsory. Cyclists have been persuaded, or persuaded themselves, that it's for their own good, and there are signs that the sulphurous epidemic is spreading to pedestrians. It wouldn't be stretching a point to suggest that we have already reached a situation where hi-vis is de rigueur for cyclists in the eyes of most drivers, all policymakers, a substantial number of cyclists themselves, and the majority of casual observers. We've been here before, with helmets – the tyranny of common sense is upon us again.
It's at this point that we might get all misty-eyed about a time when not only did high-vis yellow not even exist in nightmares, but it seemed perfectly sensible for the CTC to campaign against cyclists being legally obliged to equip their bikes with lights. But that historical moment has passed, and we are not here to indulge in a fit of nostalgia. With the advances that have been made in LED technology, decent lights are cheap and easily obtained – bicycle light technology has not just kept up with the law, but outpaced it. Roads are shared public space, and we share a duty to each other and to ourselves to be visible when we are using them.
And there, I'm afraid, my Christmas-tree tendencies end. As well as being horrible, hi-vis yellow is unnecessary in the daylight and useless at night. I like a bit of retro-reflective trim (inconspicuous by day, effective by night), and am impressed with truly striking design such as Foska's wonderful skeleton jersey. But as an online acquaintance of mine wrote recently, “I have decided not to participate in the high-visibility arms race that will end up in peds and cyclists dressed like something out of Close Encounters […] and all cars running high beam headlights during daylight hours, [and] I don't want drivers taught to expect that the other road users sharing the space will be the same colour as a space lemon.*
There's a creeping tendency to shift the responsibility for safety onto the more vulnerable road user– have a look at the DfT's “Lighten Up” game for children if you doubt this**. This, of course, was what the CTC was really fighting all those years ago. Ask yourself why no-one demands that cars are painted hi-vis yellow. For me, there is too much illumination, not too little. Anyone who thinks that dazzling car headlights are for the benefit of pedestrians has not walked home along a country road at night. They are, however, yet another excuse for motorists brashly to announce their presence whilst not having to think about their speed. When everything that is deemed to be worthy of drivers' notice must be illuminated or gaudy, the rest of the world fades into the background or disappears into shadows and blind spots. Let's dim the lights and mute the colours a little, and take the trouble to look around us again.
——-o0o——
* The imagery indicated, as well as the quotation, is shamelessly borrowed from the cyclist known online as “Ravenbait - the cross product of Tank Girl and Ellen Ripley” www.ravenfamily.org/sam
** http://talesoftheroad.direct.gov.uk/be-bright.php
