Police Acknowledge Drivers at Fault - So Hand Out Hi-Viz!

[ufkacbln]

[url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/rsrr-theme1-motorcyclists/]Road Safety Research Report No. 121
Car Drivers’ Attitudes and Visual
Skills in Relation to Motorcyclists
[/url]
Car Drivers’ Skills and Attitudes
to Motorcycle Safety: A Review

 

[Poacher]

Damn right we do! Unlike the million plus drivers with no insurance whatsoever. (I have £10 million 3rd party insurance thanks to the CTC).

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I have implied this before but I think it is worth saying again; The fundamental problem is that motorists think they are the only ones entitled to use the roads and that anyone else should get out of their way. We need a complete change in attitude so that they are aware that they are just one of the road users sharing the space. For some reason, Government does not want to give out this message and I don't know why.

The fact that the Police are finally acknowledging there is a problem seems to me a step in the right direction. (Even if they are a bit bucolic about it. )

 

[Recycler]

Road Safety Research Report No. 121
Car Drivers’ Attitudes and Visual
Skills in Relation to Motorcyclists

Car Drivers’ Skills and Attitudes
to Motorcycle Safety: A Review

Thanks for posting those links. I'll have a good read through tomorrow, but I've had a quick look and noticed this

3.1.2 Colour and luminance


It is generally assumed that more colourful objects are more likely to attract
attention. In the Itti and Koch (2000) computational model of saliency, colour is one
of the key components that are used to calculate overall saliency. Motorcyclists
often use the element of colour in the form of fluorescent or other brightly coloured
clothing to increase the likelihood that an observing driver will see them. An
epidemiological study by Wells
et al
. (2004) reported that, after adjustment for
potential confounding variables, drivers wearing reflective or fluorescent clothing
had a 37% lower risk of motorcycle-crash-related injury, compared with other
riders.

It's interesting as I've never seen any figures for the effect of hi viz gear before, but this does seem to suggest a 37% reduction in accidents....albeit on motorbikes.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Do you have a link for that research? I would be interested to see it.

All I can give you is evidence from my collision, driver turned right across me..
"I saw you but then I thought you'd gone"

Says to me, "I saw you but I went anyway because...I forgot I saw you or failed to interpret what I saw"

I never thought to ask "gone WHERE??"

 

[Boris Bajic]

I hate it when the clever riposte only comes to me when I'm in the ambulance....

 

[Matthew_T]

I went out twice today for leisure, and both times I was only wearing my club kit and not my hi-viz jacket as it was nice and warm. On both occassions, I didnt encounter more or less bad driving than I usually do (driving has seemed to have improved in my area dramatically recently for some reason).

If drivers look, then they are aware and it is just their misjudgements which cause problems. If they dont look, then there is an obvious answer if something happens.
The only time when hi-viz would help is at night. Unless you are wearing some kind of urban camouflage, drivers will see you if they look in the day.

Police and road safety teams should be looking to improve driver awareness. That is the real cause of problems on the roads. The majority of drivers do have the skills to drive properly, but cannot understand the need for having a good look around themselves at junctions in case something might be coming.

Our money can be spent on better things other than giving out free hi-viz.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Hi-viz doth offend mine eye.

 

[ufkacbln]

Thanks for posting those links. I'll have a good read through tomorrow, but I've had a quick look and noticed this


It's interesting as I've never seen any figures for the effect of hi viz gear before, but this does seem to suggest a 37% reduction in accidents....albeit on motorbikes.

Motorcyclists and cyclist research is different, but there are common issues and problems

 

[ufkacbln]

I can't reference this, but in Cycling Today (that shows my age) there was a write-up by a guy who had travelled the same route with and without high visibility gear with similar results.

However there was a massive improvement in driver behaviour when he wore a black suit, silver buttons on the epaulettes and a Policeman's helmet.

The conclusion was that the best way to become visible was to look like a Police Officer!

 

[Dan B]

The conclusion was that the best way to become visible was to look like a Police Officer!

Motorcyclists have observed similarly inexplicable effects when riding white Pan Europeans and come to the same conclusion

 

[Boris Bajic]

[/I]

The conclusion was that the best way to become visible was to look like a Police Officer!

I ought to ration my 'when I was a courier' anecdotes... but I cannot.

When I was a courier I'd often pop into the 24-Hr Bagel Bake on Brick Lane in the early hours to fuel up.

Hi-Viz padded jacket with official-looking epaulettes, black boots and leathers, white full-face.

Not infrequently, the staff would refuse payment. I'd get a wink and a knowing smile and "You lads are doing a good job."

How could they possibly know?

I don't know about being more visible, but looking like a police officer helped me to stay fed.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

<rantmode>
Why should I wear hi-viz while some one-handed driving asswipe in a lowered Corsa or £100k Merc is left alone to continue saying "Screw you, I've got a car" because no-one bothered to assess him properly in his attitude to being a driver?

They either don't look, can't be bothered to look, don't know how to cope, or look and decide you don't matter. Lets have proper education, then draconian enforcement.

</rantmode>

 

[ianrauk]

Hi-viz doth offend mine eye.

to me it looks shoot.

 

[Boris Bajic]

On this chap, I think it can look quite good.