Least dorkiest hi viz for civilian clothed commuters?

[Tim Hall]

Now, I don't know of any papers on hi viz efficacy and I can't be bothered to trawl them (please link to the evidence you suggest exists) but I do know that construction worker deaths have fallen by about 60% since they were introduced voluntarily (not that that is proof). I am usually really anti this kind of nanny stuff but as a car driver I do know that cyclists really are almost invisible until you're very close to them. Having said that, I haven't felt any safer wearing the hi viz. so I am going round in circles with my own argument!

Got any links for that?

 

[Katherine]

I have been told that when I wear my Sam Brown belt, I stand out as a cyclist and people see me from a long way off. The shape makes it easier to judge my speed and distance. This is from people who know me that have seen me out and about.

 

[philepo]

Got any links for that?

not very good ones, but here's the fall in deaths of ~60%
http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/pdf/fatalinjuries.pdf

 

[philepo]

I have been told that when I wear my Sam Brown belt, I stand out as a cyclist and people see me from a long way off. The shape makes it easier to judge my speed and distance. This is from people who know me that have seen me out and about.

but are you a cool cyclist or a dork on a bike?

 

[ufkacbln]

I wear a seat belt too.
Does the night vision coat fit over a bulky normal coat?

Slightly OT

Many waterproofs work by "shedding water" it beads and runs off. These jackets fail when this beading ceases and the moisture "wets through" the membrane

Wearing an absorbent layer such as a HiViz jacket can compromise your waterproofs resulting in cold wet uncomfortable rides

Secondly HiViz may need a rethink in your layering as they can have a warning effect

 

[grumpyoldwoman]

I do know that cyclists really are almost invisible until you're very close to them.

They are? I have to disgree with you there,whenever I've driven the car,I've never had to be close to a cyclist before I saw them. Maybe you need an eyetest?

 

[philepo]

They are? I have to disgree with you there,whenever I've driven the car,I've never had to be close to a cyclist before I saw them. Maybe you need an eyetest?

ok, not invisible, i was exaggerating. But not as visible as the box shaped things that one's eyes are accustomed to detecting 99 % of the time. I've never hit a cyclist or come close to, but they are definitely less easy to spot in the see of box shaped things i'm looking at. I suppose the other group that's related is motorcyclists as they have issues with cars pulling out not seeing them (I've been over a bonnet like this)

 

[mjr]

But not as visible as the box shaped things that one's eyes are accustomed to detecting 99 % of the time. I've never hit a cyclist or come close to, but they are definitely less easy to spot in the see of box shaped things i'm looking at.

When in hole, stop digging... Motorists really ought to be watching the majority of the streetscape which isn't other motor vehicles, not only the other motorists which can drive into them.

 

[mjr]

I have been told that when I wear my Sam Brown belt, I stand out as a cyclist and people see me from a long way off.

Whether that helps or hinders depends on whether the observer wants to behave well around cyclists and whether they will have dismissed you as an already-dealt-with obstacle by the time that they should react to you...

 

[Sara_H]

I don't do hi-viz but I do keep a white/reflective mesh vest in my pannier that I whip out to use if I happen to find myself out riding at night with dark clothes on.
Shouldn't be necessary as I'm very well lit, but there you go.

 

[vickster]

I wear a seat belt too.
Does the night vision coat fit over a bulky normal coat?

Why would you want to?

 

[subaqua]

Got any links for that?

i would be intrigued to see that dataset too.

on the flipside of that we ( company where I work , not nationally across all construction) have seen eye injuries fall by over 80% since we started safety glasses as mandatory.

 

[Origamist]

not very good ones, but here's the fall in deaths of ~60%
http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/pdf/fatalinjuries.pdf

That HSE report does not make a link between the wearing of Hi Viz in the workplace and the long term downward trend in fatalities (although, in the last 7 years, the picture is less clear).

I take it that you are proposing a causal link between the donning of Hi Viz and the reduction in fatalities in the workplace?

 

[DrLex]

Dashing Tweeds reflective range

I have a couple of pieces from DT, but have never worn them on the bike; reflective Sam Browne for the occasional dark ride.

 

[philepo]

They are? I have to disgree with you there,whenever I've driven the car,I've never had to be close to a cyclist before I saw them. Maybe you need an eyetest?

Ha ha. Seriously, stand at one end of a long street in daylight and try to spot a cyclist in a) normal clothes and b) fluorescent clothes in amongst the heaving masses. Which do you see first? (This isn't the same as 'which is safer' because drivers ought to be able to see and avoid a cyclist when within, say, 20 metres of them.

When in hole, stop digging... Motorists really ought to be watching the majority of the streetscape which isn't other motor vehicles, not only the other motorists which can drive into them.

"Ought" being the operative word here. The thing is, do they?

I don't do hi-viz but I do keep a white/reflective mesh vest in my pannier that I whip out to use if I happen to find myself out riding at night with dark clothes on.
Shouldn't be necessary as I'm very well lit, but there you go.

But at night, your lights and, especially, your reflectors, should make you pretty clear. I would question whether its actually during the day that you need the hi viz (???)

Why would you want to?

Wear a seat belt in a car? Because most of the time I feel safer, especially when at high speed. But then again I hate my modern car boing at me becasue I'm driver at 10 mph in the car park or