Altura NightVision Jacket

schlafsack

Always Tyred wrote:

I don't get the argument that lots of people all wearing the same colour is going to encourage motorists not to see you.

I like questions like this. At a guess, the argument goes something like this...

Because your visual system is very effective at filtering out things that it considers irrelevant i.e. things that it is used to, can easily map to an existing mental model and eliminate as a threat. That's not saying that a hi-viz jacket will not make you stand out more than a black jacket, but wearing a bright pink or blue jacket could make you stand out even more. i.e. be visible by being different and unusual.

always_tyred

schlafsack wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

I don't get the argument that lots of people all wearing the same colour is going to encourage motorists not to see you.

I like questions like this. At a guess, the argument goes something like this...

Because your visual system is very effective at filtering out things that it considers irrelevant i.e. things that it is used to, can easily map to an existing mental model and eliminate as a threat. That's not saying that a hi-viz jacket will not make you stand out more than a black jacket, but wearing a bright pink or blue jacket could make you stand out even more. i.e. be visible by being different and unusual.

Yes, but is it helpful if that split second object recognition mode, will noting a strange coloured blob actually modify the driving?

So I go back to me point about the familiarity of the object "cyclist" and the semi-automatic responses that the appearance of that object triggers in motorists. I don't actually have a clue which way it goes, but I don't know that veing viewed as carnival floats in order to stand out from other carnival floats is helping matters.

Are there really so many cyclists that motorists are so familiar, drive inconsiderately and/or fail to not cut us up, because we are so familiar and need to diversify? Not where I live there aren't.

I do know that, by comparison to a decade ago, a flashing red LED is much more of a signature of a cyclist than it used to be and I find that I spot them from further away when I drive. I don't have to think "what's that?" and peer as I go past - I can briefly not the light and register "cyclist" and drive accordingly. In fact, I'm positiviely annoyed as a driver when I find that its a jogger on the pavement who doesn't need one and that I've modified my driving for a cyclist for no reason. So I'm simply adpoting an extension of that experience.

schlafsack

Always Tyred wrote:

So I go back to me point about the familiarity of the object "cyclist" and the semi-automatic responses that the appearance of that object triggers in motorists. I don't actually have a clue which way it goes, but I don't know that veing viewed as carnival floats in order to stand out from other carnival floats is helping matters.

Absolutely, I agree. I'm guessing most people have a fairly rigid, fixed mental model of Joe Cyclist. I experienced a perfect example this morning, I was doing about 25mph along a busy road following a stream of cars. At the side of the road there was man with two kids in a double pushchair. He waited for the cars and then pushed his kids out in front of me. I swerved and shouted in alarm and he yelled back 'Slow down, idiot!'. He saw me, I was wearing yellow, and still pushed his children into my path.

AndyManc

Always Tyred wrote:

Yes, but is it helpful if that split second object recognition mode, will noting a strange coloured blob actually modify the driving?

.

Motorists will only recognise (and act accordingly) if the object they see .... is bigger than they are.

'Only a cyclists' .... f*** it, I won't get injured ', so they drive like muppets because they don't feel at risk.

Eat My Dust

What DID happen to BentMikey? I miss him.

BTW I always agreed with him on the urban camo debate!

always_tyred

AndyManc wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

Yes, but is it helpful if that split second object recognition mode, will noting a strange coloured blob actually modify the driving?

.

Motorists will only recognise (and act accordingly) if the object they see .... is bigger than they are.

'Only a cyclists' .... f*** it, I won't get injured ', so they drive like muppets because they don't feel at risk.

Maybe - I've certainly had to fend off cars in the past and the driver's main concern is the bodywork.

So, not necessarily bigger, more like "able to cause damage".

always_tyred

Eat My Dust wrote:

What DID happen to BentMikey? I miss him.

BTW I always agreed with him on the urban camo debate!

How come drivers are able to react to other cars then? There are loads of them, so surely they should blend in?

I think, like other of BM's musings, there is a certain logic, but that logic is derived from a fundamentally flawed - or simplified - premise.

I think I scared him off the forum by (a) daring to employ the term "Darwinism" - to which he was mortally offended and (b) requiring him to answer difficult mathamatical problems that he himself posed, rather than getting him simply to pose other ones.

I expect him back in a few years once he's finished his statistical analysis degree, with which he will conclusively prove that helmets are dangerous, based on an in-depth re-analysis of all published data everywhere ever. After which I shall put my helmet in the dumpster and bow graciously.

For what its worth, I think I was a little tactless.

schlafsack

Always Tyred wrote:

How come drivers are able to react to other cars then? There are loads of them, so surely they should blend in?

Because they are a risk, a danger, and as such are at the forefront of a drivers mind.

Eat My Dust

Always Tyred wrote:

I think I scared him off the forum by

You should be ashamed of yourself. I don't know him personally, other than on here. I do however know some of his friends and he seems to be a REALLY nice guy.

always_tyred

schlafsack wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

How come drivers are able to react to other cars then? There are loads of them, so surely they should blend in?

Because they are a risk, a danger, and as such are at the forefront of a drivers mind.

Agreed.

always_tyred

Eat My Dust wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

I think I scared him off the forum by

You should be ashamed of yourself. I don't know him personally, other than on here. I do however know some of his friends and he seems to be a REALLY nice guy.

Honestly - he seemed pretty passionate, which is good, but I didn't agree with some/a lot of what he said. Get a message to him and tell him to come back.

philbill1973

Anyway should biondino buy the pink Hi-Vis vest and wear it for a laugh, or has he copped out by wanting a jacket ?

il_principe

BM- hangs on the cyclechat forum I believe. A lot of the old C+ crew migrated over there.

I don't wear a yellow jacket. Bleurgh and all that, but I do get the urban camo point. For me the key is riding well and in primary. Of course I have lights (2 rear) and some reflective tape on my bag so I'm clearly visible. I see loads of people in yellow jackets and helmets RLJ everyday. Apparently if you are more visible you're less likely to get hit when you ride like a tw@t...

GregP

My yellow NV arrived yesterday. First time out today (second attempt at leaving the house - first was in my neither water nor windproof but still fabulous TriUK jacket).

First impressions are good. Think the pocketage is going to take some getting used to, mind. I'm pleased to report a properly long drop at the back. This is A Good Thing.