Hi-Viz Every Time!

[XmisterIS]

Hi all,

I just thought I'd post this because I think it's important.

Until last Tuesday I used to be quite sloppy about wearing my hi-viz tabbard at night; particularly if I was only going a couple of miles down the road on well-lit streets.

Well, on the aforementioned Tuesday evening, I was in my car, waiting to emerge from a junction and turn left. I looked right ... I looked right really hard ... then I made sure that I really had looked right and that I really had seen all that there was to see ... I started to pull out ... and at the very last minute I saw a kid on a black moped, dressed entirely in black, with a black helmet, not a shred of hi-viz on him, riding almost in the gutter. His bike had been positioned so that his headlight coincided exactly with the left-hand headlight of a large car about 30 meters behind him - so that it looked the same size and brightness. Without hi-viz, and because he was riding almost in the gutter, he just looked like part of the car.

Anyway, I stopped as soon as I saw him and I'd only moved about 6 inches, so disaster was averted!

The moral of the story is that I always wear my hi-viz tabbard at night now! Always, always, always! If the kid on the 'ped had been wearing hi-viz I would have seen him a mile off.

I'm sure I'm teaching most of you to suck eggs, but I thought I would post this because I was actually quite frightened by the experience of almost hitting and perhaps killing a kid on a 'ped because he wasn't wearing hi-viz and because his road position was bad.

[Guest akey]

Nice honest report buddy well done

Fortunatly my jacket has reflective strips all over it.

[Guest]

The reason he was invisible was due to his road positioning and lack of roadcraft.

It is advisable to move about within your lane on the approach to junctions so that a waiting motorist can see the movement of the headlight - Hi-Viz is mostly reflective and unless he came into the headlight beam of an approaching vehicle he would still have been invisible.

If you had hit him it would have been more his fault than yours.

[nman1]

I do agree, heres Marks, just to prove how effective they are. This is just with a camera flash, think how bright car headlights would make them glow.

[Guest]

yer when i approach junctions i always move away from the car that is sitting in the jucntion, position myself to the center of the road

[Stu]

see this on a regular basis in my job

i was pulling out of a bus stop the other night looked in my mirror and saw there was a car really far back when im moving off i always keep an eye on the right mirror and while i was moving out the same thing happened to me

ped rider in gutter inline with the cars headlight

so not only was he out of view of my mirrors untill i started to move off but he was right in the gutter infront of the car headlight and looked part of the car

lickily it was a more senior person riding the ped and held back to let me out anyway if it had been a chav he/she would have just carried on at full throttle to try and beat me as they always do

[Guest philgale]

The reason he was invisible was due to his road positioning and lack of roadcraft.

It is advisable to move about within your lane on the approach to junctions so that a waiting motorist can see the movement of the headlight - Hi-Viz is mostly reflective and unless he came into the headlight beam of an approaching vehicle he would still have been invisible.

If you had hit him it would have been more his fault than yours.

when i come to a junction i always move out to the centre of the road, gives them further to travel before they hit me so i got more chance to move.....also roll off the throttle if i think they could just go....then when i got eye contact i know they have seen me...

also drop it a few gears so i make alot of noise

[Guest]

am not saying a word about my jacket lol but other's will say it's abit visible ..

and yes junction approach give them room but i do find that if im riding the rear of a rideout i will alter my line nearer to the hazard rather than further away so that it changes that line of procession giving the waiting motorist an indication that they a: cannot nudge out as they have been waiting so long as all the other bikes are riding the white line and b: that they have a visual positioning of the length of the procession

and i do not move towrds the white line normal riding i prefer to ride centre position as that then gives me the option moving into a safe area ( near centre line) if they pull out .. whilst riding near centre line in theory gives you two places only to go ... into oncoming traffic or swerving into the vehicle that has pulled out

[asharin]

I leave my high-viz vest attatched to my jacket even during the day, lol. Saves forgetting to put it on at night

[techno]

I wont wear a hi vis thing, just my preference but do have reflactive strips on my jacket and also move out to the centre and slow down.

[Guest]

I bought a couple of packets of little armbands with LED's on from Aldi a few weeks ago.

The four red LED's light up either steady or flashing, and being reflective as well, they don't have to be switched on to reflect headlights.

[slugworth1987]

on distance riding i wear a big over coat which is wind and water proof + hiVis

on small rides to the shops, nothing

on rides over 5miles ill put on a high vis vest

[nman1]

Hey slug, I`m glad I`m not following you on small rides.

[slugworth1987]

Hey slug, I`m glad I`m not following you on small rides.

haha i get some right looks when im bear a$$ on a bike

[nman1]

not surprised. I`m getting one of these jackets for winter so it`s a choice of hi-viz or black with white flashings.

[Guest]

Incidentally..... are those Hi Viz vests/tabbards with the LEDs, legal on a motorcycle??

[Guest]

People say that if they go on a small journey then they tend not to wear as much safety equipment as they would on a long journey, but you can have a accident just pulling out of your street, so i put all of my protective equipment on regardless of the distance of my trip.

[nman1]

Once again Dan, wise words from one so young. Proper little sage.

[Guest]

Only a steady white light to the front and red light to the rear are legal.

However, for the sake of safety I am willing to risk two small armbands, and only one of the LED's is actually facing forwards. I am not sure the hi-viz with red LED's on the front would be as 'acceptable', but it would be a real jobsworth to stop you for wearing one!

[Guest]

Once again Dan, wise words from one so young. Proper little sage.

 

Yes he definitely knows his onions!

[XmisterIS]

I've started weaving a bit when a car is about to emerge at night.

I also pip my horn if someone looks like they're about to pop out of a junction - that has stopped at least two people from pulling out on me - they were turning right across traffic and were so intent on looking left into the far lane that they started to pull out without looking right into the near lane ...

[Guest]

That's what the horn is for - not long loud aggressive blasts but just to let someone know you are there. Hopefully the response wasn't aggressive in its nature as so often is the case these days.

[XmisterIS]

Nope, not aggressive at all! I only tend to get aggro from chavs in kitted and lowered peugeot 106's with bucket-sized exhaust pipes ... just for existing! - i.e. they shout abuse at me just because I've filtered up through the traffic and have fetched up beside their car at the lights. (they don't seem to realise that I can't hear a word through bike engine + helmet!). They also try to race me off at the lights, which is funny

[Guest]

my jackets got abit of hi viz on it i think... but my unlce gave me £20 and told me to buy one of those hi-viz belts or something, you know where i could order one?

[Guest]

Go into any cycle shop and you will get one for a lot less than £20.

If you go to a hardware warehouse type store you can get sleeveless vests for less than £20 too.

You can get a long sleeved slipover for around £20 - it all depends on how Hi you want your HiViz.