The sea of hi-viz. Everyone is wearing so you don't have to

prj45

fastercyclist wrote:

That's why I wear liquigas anyway

hmm, are you sure?

Thing is that wearing lots of bright colours makes it harder for others to see you, or at least work out how you are moving.

It's why they painted battle ships all sorts of colours during the war (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage), why soldiers wear camouflage and why goal keepers wear brightly coloured tops.

I turned across the path of a cyclist in the car a while back, I felt bad, but I had looked and looked again but didn't see him until I started my turn; he was in multi coloured camouflage.

snailracer

meanredspider wrote:

_Brun_ wrote:

I'm pretty sure the Highway Code says you only have to use headlights if the road is unlit.

Correct but ONLY at night. It says you MUST use headlights in poor visibility situations.

As quoted above - it says you SHOULD use headlights at night in built-up areas and in dim daytime conditions - ie you aren't breaking the law in not doing so.

I would always use headlights (not just sidelights) at night even when the road is lit. Otherwise, there would be no point making reflectors mandatory on bikes. Headlights stand a chance of illuminating those "dark hoodie-wearing kids on BMX's" who, of course, have no lights of their own.

Kieran_Burns

My Audi has auto-sensing lights. I set them on auto and when it gets to dusk they sort themselves out (plus I have the driving lilghts option switched on as well)

They seem to come on before I would choose them to, so I'm happy to trust them to get on with it.

It seems to be a standard option on modern Audis so I can't see any excuse for someone NOT having their lights on tbh.

I also always wear hi-vis of some description when cycling, even my black and white top has ninja reflective strips in it.

glauciaregina9

Cyclist: "Oi, watch out"

Motorist: "Sorry mate, didn't see you. You should be wearing a hi-viz jacket or something"

Cyclist: "You're not driving a car with a hi-viz cover, and I saw you perfectly well !?"

...

meanredspider

snailracer wrote:

I would always use headlights (not just sidelights) at night even when the road is lit. Otherwise, there would be no point making reflectors mandatory on bikes. Headlights stand a chance of illuminating those "dark hoodie-wearing kids on BMX's" who, of course, have no lights of their own.

Absolutely. It would be interesting to drive around town at night with just your sidelights on and see how many times you are flashed by other motorists. And yet, in poorer visibility (wet roads, rain, spray, water on mirrors & windscreens, rain on pedestrians' & cyclists' specs, rain & condensation on motorcyclists' visors, reflections off the road, reduced contrast) as well as reduced grip on the road surface, people insist on using sidelights. Is it to save fuel? The 90W out of say a modest 7000W power the engine delivers - say 2% allowing for the efficiency of your alternator. That's achieveable by making sure your tyre pressures are right, servicing your car regularly, or, simpler still, your driving style.

Sorry to rant about it but I just think it's about consideration for other road users. And, to get it back on topic, I think being visible on your bike (or horse or motorbike or car or tractor or JCB) is the same. Folk that ride a bike at night without lights, for instance, have no idea how invisible they are. For me, at least, wearing bright clothing on a bike (and lights at night and having a bell fitted) is just taking into account the people I share my route with.

bails87

Kieran_Burns wrote:

It seems to be a standard option on modern Audis so I can't see any excuse for someone NOT having their lights on tbh.
it.

Give me your car and I'll be inclined to agree with you

rolf_f

meanredspider wrote:

Absolutely. It would be interesting to drive around town at night with just your sidelights on and see how many times you are flashed by other motorists.

Irrc, you don't have to have lights on at night if there are streetlights - or at least that used to be the case though always seemed silly not to have them on.

The idea of the sea of hi viz making an individual in hi viz less visible is interesting. Ultimately, a lot of ways of making yourself distinctive rely on your approach being unusual (eg the poster on here talking about using blue lights). Motor cyclists make themselves more visible by using headlights during daytime but on car forums, quite a few people leave their headlights on all day for their personal safety. I get in to trouble for pointing out that this increased safety is only achieved at the expense of others - eg the bikers and cyclists who become less visible for it.

Of course, now I have a car that has fixed daytime running lights - can't turn them off without fiddling with the wiring!

always_tyred

Why is everyone presuming that "unusual" = visible?

It can do, but not necessarily. Remember the gorilla... or was it a bear... I can't remember. Didn't see it, unfortunately.

mapleflot

In a year or two, all new cars in the UK will have mandatory daytime running lights installed.
I guess these forums may start to see the helmet or high-viz debate replaced/supplemented with a DRLs-on-bikes debate. There's already an organized `anti-' group FWIW:
http://www.dadrl.org.uk/cyclists.html

meanredspider

Always Tyred wrote:

Why is everyone presuming that "unusual" = visible?

It can do, but not necessarily. Remember the gorilla... or was it a bear... I can't remember. Didn't see it, unfortunately.

It was a gorilla. I'm not sure it's a valid comparison because you're asked to count the number of ball passes the players make. The gorilla blends in in shape, colour and size - your brain is focusing on the ball and treats the gorilla as just another player. A Hi-Viz gorilla may have been a different story

I'm not sure about the "blending in" argument either. Presumably the cars are trying to avoid all the the cyclists not just some of them. I think the "risk" (if there is one - which I'm not sold on) is worth taking for the overall benefit.

warthog562

I used to be in the aussie military and trying to remember back to basic training they taught us the basic rules for camaflauge and they went along these line

1 shine ( hide anything that shines as this atracts attention)

2 shape ( make yourself not appear to be a person shape)

3 colour ( try to be the same colour as your soroundings)

4 movement ( stay still or move slowly, don't have things swinging off you)

5 shimmer ( make sure your kit is matt not gloss)

I can't remember all off them but it sems to me as a cyclist we would want to break as many of these rules as possible so those ankle strap thingies are great because they move to atract attention and are the wrong colour for the background. but also flashing lights grab attention. my piont is anything that helps get you seen may save your life even if it looks uncool. a clean and shiny bike may help as the light relflection may be what gets there attention.


ps I agree ride through london naked and i bet every single person would notice. well maybe not ipod zombie pedestrians.

roger_merriman

I have a lot of blinkies on the bike and use the little wee things, ie wet dull days etc. they don't require much to run, plus I tend to be further out than most bikes.

I don't wear bike clothes as it's only 5 miles.

do have a hi/vis top for the roadie though.