Hi Viz Jacket ex Plod

santrix · Oct 10, 2009

I honestly dont think anyone is stupid enough to 'rely' on it. All it means is that the fraction of drivers that wouldnt normally spot you, do, and it just may be one of those that cause you grief. Ultimately you will never know, anything that cuts down the odds works for me. :thumb2

Decster · Oct 10, 2009

maybe an overjacket with a naked ladies torso painted on it would draw attention to you.....might cause an accident or two, but likely to allow you to proceed in complete safety..

shugie · Oct 10, 2009

Decster said:
maybe an overjacket with a naked ladies torso painted on it would draw attention to you.....might cause an accident or two, but likely to allow you to proceed in complete safety..

as long as you take it off should you wander down Swansea High Street of an evening, just in case of unfortunate misunderstandings

jimbo · Oct 10, 2009

shugie said:
as long as you take it off should you wander down Swansea High Street of an evening, just in case of unfortunate misunderstandings

Perhaps a better bet is just to avoid Swansea completely at any time of the day or night.

Blackal · Oct 10, 2009

shugie said:
as long as you take it off should you wander down Swansea High Street of an evening, just in case of unfortunate misunderstandings

Dressing as a sheep would probably cause more of a stir....................... :augie

Al

wheelnut · Oct 10, 2009

santrix said:
I honestly dont think anyone is stupid enough to 'rely' on it. All it means is that the fraction of drivers that wouldnt normally spot you, do, and it just may be one of those that cause you grief. Ultimately you will never know, anything that cuts down the odds works for me.

If wear it you will therefore think it helps you be seen, therefore you think you'll be safer with it. If you think it's one of the things that keeps you safe then you rely on it.

Blackal · Oct 10, 2009

wheelnut said:
If wear it you will therefore think it helps you be seen, therefore you think you'll be safer with it. If you think it's one of the things that keeps you safe then you rely on it.

So............. ride naked - then you'll be so-o-o-o careful :blast

Al

santrix · Oct 10, 2009

wheelnut said:
If wear it you will therefore think it helps you be seen, therefore you think you'll be safer with it. If you think it's one of the things that keeps you safe then you rely on it.

I dont adjust my riding style one bit, so you're wrong fella. Im just stacking the dice in my favour. To be honest i don't know why there's so many posts about this. It's a good buy, helps you be seen, but doesnt make you indestructable, but then again, it isnt meant to.

ELIMINATOR · Oct 11, 2009

santrix, you are spot on. I'll still blather on though!

I want one of these hi viz goretex jackets for several reasons.

1) To lessen the degree that my goretex jacket soaks up water and is cold and damp the next day.

2) Riding down the Motorway in the dark, i've seen so many bikes go past me with riders wearing all black, once they've pulled back into an inside lane, they are nearly invisible from behind. I'd hate to be in a similar position, knowing that a car may be overtaking, then decide to pull into a poorly perceived "gap" at the last moment to exit the slip road, taking me out in the process.

3) though's crossed my mind that if I do get knocked off, at least I'll be visible while lying on the road!

4) Having seen other people wearing them, they make themselves far more visible to me, so it does work for some of us.

Even though I ride my GS with the lights on, (not optional), I also ride with the foglights on. The different reaction from the traffic between riding the GS and my Yamaha is obvious. The assymetrical light pattern catches quite a few car drivers attention, and they move over to let me pass. Having added LED fogs to the Yam, this has improved drivers awareness of my presenceas well.

I still treat every other road user as a dickhead though, I unfortunately include other motorcyclists within this group.

ELIMINATOR · Oct 11, 2009

Ref. item 4. I tend to wear the hi viz jacket that I have, during winter commuting and night riding (much the same this time of year

) ........................... where's hasslehoff when you want him.

Jacal · Oct 11, 2009

The answer is 42

gasman · Oct 12, 2009

wheelnut said:
Bold bits mine. One sentence he says that hivis doesn't affect the way feels about his visibilty, the next thing he's saying he's scared to ride without it, ie, he feels safer with it!!

Again, it gets us on a subconscious level.

After all, and here's the killer question, if we really really think it will make no difference to our conspicuity and won't affect the way we ride, then why do we put it on?

Wheelnut, I guess you have misquoted me accidentally, not deliberately (visibilty instead of vincibility?) although I STILL don't understand what you are saying.
Of course hiviz improves my visibility AND it reduces my vincibility. Yes, I feel it's scarier without it. If you put on an eyepatch over one eye, you'd feel more scared and drive differently too. (Only just, I'm guessing).
Yes, I do drive differently with it on - appropriately so. I make progress, I enjoy the ride, I don't slow right down if I see a volvo at a side road, and don't have to crap my pants with old ladies pulling out on me all the time. Very differently.
So we do drive differently with hiviz, but it's appropriate and within sensible limits, and we can because we are safer. You seem to be saying that wearing hiviz turns us into mad bad riders. Nu-uh. Who's more likely to have a 'culture of safety' outlook ?

As far as I can tell, there's only one real reason not to. VANITY. Capitals mine.

:mmmm

everywherevirtually · Oct 12, 2009

I agree with the hi-viz stuff. I tend to wear it more this time of year.

There are those times though when nothing will help. See the attached photo. Last night I was on a filter lane to join the M6 when this crazy woman swerved across the first slip lane and the second chevroned off slip lane that I was in.

I was driving my dads new Fiat 500. A brand new 'white' car with good headlights and running lights. I've no idea what was in this womans brain but we had to brake hard and were stopped on the slip road. All the other cars nearly piled into me. When we pulled along side her she looked like a scared rabbit caught between the headlights.

It was apparent she had taken a wrong turn onto the motorway and so her remedy was to swerve to the far left of the slip road and then probably reverse back up it instead of carrying on to the next junction and turning around.

So often I hear of wives, sisters, girlfriends who are scared to go on the motorway. I say that if you cannot drive properly in all circumstances then you should not have a license.

It's true. People really are out there to kill us. :rob

NorthernBoy · Oct 13, 2009

I don't actually wear High visibility stuff at the moment, but the statistics that I reported up above are making me think twice now.

In London One think that helps is being very assertive sometimes, so not allowing anyone to squeeze you where you don't want to be, not letting someone make you stop in the carriageway when you have right of way, and so on.

That and three horns on the bike that freeze pedestrians dead.

Nothing's never enough though without also having some luck. A couple of months back, when "making progress" through London, I decided to stop rather than skirt an island on the wrong side, because there was a van of police sitting in the queue next to it. The courier behind me who had been following me across town unfortunately had already filed me under "does not slow for traffic", and managed to ride straight into the back of me at about 40mph. By the time I realised he was accelerating, not slowing, there was no way on earth that I was going to be able to get out of the way, and was duly punted down the road.

wheelnut · Oct 13, 2009

gasman said:
Yes, I do drive differently with it on - appropriately so. I make progress, I enjoy the ride, I don't slow right down if I see a volvo at a side road, and don't have to crap my pants with old ladies pulling out on me all the time. Very differently.

That's the point I was making - you rely on it to keep you safe.

You see, I do slow right down when I see a volvo at a side road, I may even move the bike across the road so the driver has a better chance of seeing me as I move across his field of vision, rather than stay still in it.

I do 'crap my pants' when I see a old lady because I assume she is going to pull out on me and I plan what I'm going to do when she does.

What I don't do, as you are advocating is rely on hiviz to keep me safe.

As someone once told me, it's a piece of clothing, it's not a forcefield.

gasman said:
As far as I can tell, there's only one real reason not to. VANITY. Capitals mine.

Then carry on believing that.. :comfort

NorthernBoy · Oct 13, 2009

wheelnut said:
That's the point I was making - you rely on it to keep you safe.

You seem to do condescension a bit better than you do comprehension...

A good rider will tailor their safety margin to the level of danger that they are facing. That you don't do so is hardly grounds for such a superior attitude.

wheelnut · Oct 13, 2009

NorthernBoy said:
You seem to do condescension a bit better than you do comprehension...

Look at the quotes below. Tell me that he doesn't think hivis makes him safer? So much so that he likens riding without it to riding with an eyepatch!

gasman said:
Of course hiviz improves my visibility AND it reduces my vincibility.

Yes, I feel it's scarier without it. If you put on an eyepatch over one eye, you'd feel more scared and drive differently too. (Only just, I'm guessing).

Yes, I do drive differently with it on - appropriately so. I make progress, I enjoy the ride, I don't slow right down if I see a volvo at a side road, and don't have to crap my pants with old ladies pulling out on me all the time. Very differently.

So we do drive differently with hiviz, but it's appropriate and within sensible limits, and we can because we are safer.

Now do you think that thinking hivis makes you safer is a good or bad thing?

Deleted account W · Oct 13, 2009

I've taken to wearing mine around the house when I'm on the lash. Since adopting this regime I've not been knocked over once by a Volvo or an old lady.

I think this proves quite a lot

Loiq · Oct 13, 2009

when I get to be incharge anyone found selling stuff for or from coppers, army, navy or any other stuff that my taxes paid for will be thrown in the slammer.

end of.

:thumb2

I don't have an issue with the safety aspect but why disguise yerself as the man... seems abit odd when there's plenty of other stuff that's just as reflective and probably cheaper.

santrix · Oct 13, 2009

Lo-IQ said:
when I get to be incharge anyone found selling stuff for or from coppers, army, navy or any other stuff that my taxes paid for will be thrown in the slammer.

end of.

I don't have an issue with the safety aspect but why disguise yerself as the man... seems abit odd when there's plenty of other stuff that's just as reflective and probably cheaper.

All the ex cop stuff is sold via a decision with government, has nothing to do with shady re-sellers, but you have a valid point regarding tax payers money etc etc. Show me a goretex hi viz jacket for less than 30 quid. :rob

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