is hi vis worth it

[parkinator]

hi just asking peoples opinion is hi vis jacket worth wearing during the day as i dont mind wearing it but how much dose it help other road users see me thanks

[ScaredyCat]

[soforene]

I notice a difference between riding with and without.

And every little helps in keeping you alive.

So I rarely ride without.
But I see a lot of "cool" riders riding without.


Alive > "Cool".

[Matt-]

Obvious answer is YES it does work...

But the answer that your looking for is NO you will look like a tit ...

But if your worried about safety maybe it's best to sacrifice you man hood
____________________
RIP jack (wheelie king), you will never be forgotten.
Current Bike's - Road Legal TZR 125 Pitbike, Aprilia SR50R 2010

[ocatoro]

seen a few dayglow yellow helmets during my search for one. could be a fair compromise... probably even more eye catching than a hi vis jacket cos people'll be like wtfuuuu


____________________
CBT - 17/09/12 * Theory - 23/10/12 * Mod1 - 05/03/13 * Mod2 - 25/03/13 * BOSH!
Current - None but shed project H100 (first bike )
Past - ER5, '93 ZZR600, '92 CB400 SF, ZZR600 (again), yellow Monster 620, Blackbird - black Monster 620ie - '96 ZZR600

[Flatbadger]

When I got my helmet I tried on a black one first and it looked amazing. But I went back for a white version (which they had to order in) for the visibility.

I wear my hi-viz at night or if the weather's gloomy, or perhaps on a longer trip.

Wear a full face helmet and at least nobody will know to whom they should attribute spackage points..
____________________
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
You're in ISIS

[soforene]

[Ollossm]

[wayne.p]

i had a fair few people pull out on me on one junction on my commute.

i purchased a hi vis for £2 off ebay for "effect" and to show im a "cautious rider" to examiner... wear it, and at the same junction, i see cars about to pull out, and actually stop now...

i look like a spacker for wanting not to get killed? thats cool... I will wear mine still on longer runs / nsl roads etc... but around town, nah, i think the jacket'll do (30mph roads etc)

(but bear in mind the brakes on a 125 arent that great for higher speeds... perhaps on a larger bike i'll feel more confident with the better braking )
____________________
CBT= 2006... Passed car test=8/3/08... then a break in biking...
CBT= 14/7/12 Done, Theory= 6/9/12 Done, Mod1= 26/9/12 (fingers crossed), Mod2= to be booked... (pending mod1)

[janner_10]

[ScaredyCat]

[Magnet]

Well we are all gonna die one day and I for one would rather not die looking like a spaka. Besides most cagers want too kill you anyway, so why make yourself more visible to them?

https://i50.tinypic.com/35n3n88.gif
____________________
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.

GPZ600R Sold, Now ZZR600

[Matt-]

Yeah the high vis helmets are becoming more and more popular,
I would purchase one for the foggy / rainy days , what with englands weather conditions all year around , as above their like £2
Off eBay !

Bargain even if its going to sit on a shelf ...

Matt
____________________
RIP jack (wheelie king), you will never be forgotten.
Current Bike's - Road Legal TZR 125 Pitbike, Aprilia SR50R 2010

[soforene]

[Flatbadger]

[Matt-]

[Teflon-Mike]

the INVISIBLE biker!
In depth muse on the topic.
In recent post I pondered whether our strivings for safety were to some degree counter-productive....
I mean we stick a goldfish bowl on our bonce to protect our heads, and no-one can see our face.... people are pre-programmed to LOOK for faces... we see faces in clouds or colons & brackets, bricks in walls, every where, becouse our brain is hard wired to LOOK for things that look like faces......
So having covered our visage, the ONE thing people NATURALLY look for.....
We moan they dont see us.....
And like a child pinching to get your attension, do stuff that we know CAN be rather annoying.....
Waving bright lights around, wearing claring day-glow colours and screaming for attension...
Then like the child pinching you becouse they want a hug.... wondering why they dont get 'possitive' attension...

I have, I'm afraid a rather jaded outlook on the whole thing, and I think that we ARE looking at the wrong things to keep us safe, and doing a lot of things that aren't SO great.....

And out there, day-glow NOW is just ANOTHER bright attension grabbing blob, in teh corner of our eye, and IGNORED.

https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w269/teflons-torque/00_genral/original-uk-motorcycle-conspicuity-design.jpg

Ask this chap; you couldn't put more Hi-Vis on if you tried, and they do, with flashing blue lights and loud sirens, and they will tell you people STILL dont see them!

I dont habitually wear Hi-Vis..... I do like Snowie to wear it, and she does feel more confident in it.

From some photo's of doing some Mod 1 practice in teh dark, Snowie wearing a green Sam-brown Belt and Smiler wearing my Hi-Vis vest......
https://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w269/teflons-torque/Little%20Dreams/Last%20Ride/000_0056.jpg
I have to say that I am now MORE convinced that the bright yellow rectangle of whiote reflecting material does NOT do so much to help....

Its just another big white blurr, the reflected light whiting out whatever is around it... could be a bike, could be a trolly boy from ASDA could be a truck driver checking his tyres in a lay by, could be a chap walking the dog....... or an abandoned road works sign....

The hi-vis belt..... refelecting LESS shear light, giving it a tint, didn't over expose photo's so badly, AND you get some 'sense' of whats WEARING the strip.... it gives an outline and lets you see something around the strap.

BUT.... Open face hat. People are PROGRAMMED to look for faces!

I wear an open face round town, or a flip, which I usually wear open unless on faster roads....

People see my ugly mug..... small children scream, women feint, and blokes go looking for pitchforks....... well, may be its not THAT bad...

But, They SEE my face... and they are LOOKING for faces and they instantly recognize one, and instantly they PERSONIFY me....

Popping to the petrol station; its on the main-ish road to town out of the estate. On the right hand side from the way I'll be approaching it, and there'll usually be a stream of traffic coming the other way from town... round a corner and up the hill, so they 'appear' (on this 20mph traffic calmed road!) at about 40mph, 'just' the other end of the petrol station forecoart.

Now....this FACE recognition 'thing' is ONLY a personal theory, a muse... BUT, If I have been in my old full-face or got the chin down on the flip..... when I get to that junction to pull in to the petrol station, more often than not, I'm ignored. Same junction in my open of flip.... people see my face.... and FAR more often, they will slow, or actually stop and bekcon me accross into the petrol station.

People's reaction to me as a 'biker' pulling up in an open lid, outside the convenience store, or super-market, are also consistently 'more freindly' they smile, or they at least DONT look so worried, when I'm in an open lid to a full face.

The ONLY think that really accounts for this is that the SEE MY FACE!

L-Plates are another 'thing'... they aren's significantly a 'conspicuity aid'... yet... my experiences supported by others....

Get o a bike with L-Plates... buggers SEE you and do almost ANYTHING to bully you off the road trying to get past.

Same bike, no L-Plate... same rider... they just DONT see you, or behave as if they dont.....

Hang on... why do they SEE you with an L-Plate but not without?

Truth is, that they probably allways SEE you... they just dont know what they are looking at!

The L-Plate is an icon... its instantly recognised, like a face.... but they associate it with 'Learner' which means bimbling idiot likely to hold them up........ hence thier endevours to get past you......

Take it off, they still SEE you... but they dont KNOW what they are looking at.... so they behave as though you aren't there....

Its all to do with driver cognicence & behaviour and getting peoples attension, positively, takes a lot more than trying to stand out from an increasingly atension seeking 'crowd'.....

And bottom line..... we are relying on them 'doing the right thing'.....

And that is not always a great thing to rely on!

Is HEARTENING that for ALL we say that theres always the other guy, and that we critisise other drivers so much... if you think about it, we DO rely on them 'doing the right thing' or at least what we expect, an AWFUL LOT... and more often than they dont.... they DO do as they should or do do as expected.....

Keeping our wits about us, NOT presuming people will ALWAYS do what they should or is expected, paying atension to hazards, NOT gettiong blase about 'safety' leaving it all to other people, presuming day-light running lights, hi-vis, safety wear or helmets will 'protect' us, NOT taking 'stupid risks', and putting ourselves in the firing line needlessly.... THAT makes us 'SAFEr'.....

Hi-Vis? Very small part in the bigger picture.... how useful? Well I think that like almost ALL 'safety aids' it only works within VERY narrow limits, and its value is significantly over-rated... but not entirely 'useless'.

And like the big-bib to the discrete strap, I don't think that more is necessarily 'better'....

But as a part of a considered approach to 'safety', a part and a small part, not the be-all and end all, it has some worth... and cant really do much harm.
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Polarbear]

I say no!

If they aren't going to see you with your headlights on, whats a bit of yellow going to do.
____________________
Victory Cross Country American tractor.

[Teflon-Mike]

[CaNsA]

[Ollossm]

[wayne.p]

[barrkel]

[Teflon-Mike]

[thepuma]

I bought one when I first started riding but I started to notice other road users doing stupid things around me...pulling in front of me, driving within an inch of my back tyre, overtaking me at inappropriate times....I thought it 'may' have been to do with the Hi Viz vest bringing attention to me and the fact I was a learner.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to ditch the hi viz and experiment without it...and amazingly almost ALL these stupid drivers doing silly things around me stopped. I noticed it straight away. So I don't wear it anymore, other than for my tests to get brownie points from the examiner.


As the nights are drawing in now, I might start wearing it when its dark, but won't do during the day, I just don't like the negative attention it seams to bring.
____________________
YBR125 (SOLD) - CBR250R(SOLD) - CBR650F(SOLD) Current - Street Triple
765 RS