I bet you wear proper boots though eh ? :D:P
I wear one to work and back if it’s dark or the weather is crap causing poor visibility…
Elad wears a Hi-Viz vest when he wants to tone down his leathers:D
Thanks for all the comments, I guess I agree with much of what has already been said. In particular a few things that I’d like to give you my take on…
The whole “people employed by the state” observation… It’s true that I wonder how much of this has to do with concern for an employees safety and how much of it is simply a legal “back-covering” exercise. Do coppers and street sweepers wear Hi-Vis beacause it helps them be seen; or so that there’s no chance of them turning round and sueing their employer in the event of an accident? No doubt some of you will have had the health & saftey card trundled out at work for the same sort of reasons… I know I have, in the form of steel toe-capped shoes.
As far as the “If someone can’t see you then it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing” point… I’d agree with that. Hi-Vis on its own won’t help you if you’re not riding with anticipation of what other road users around you may or may not do. I’ve often heard riders talk about “riding as if they’re invisible” I think that this is a good mindset. Dare I say that using Hi-Vis could even be a bad thing if you have the opinion that it is some sort of force-field and that other people are bound to see you just because you’re wearing it.
I also guess that there will be some drivers out there that see Hi-Vis to mean Learner or inexperienced rider (unless it’s obviously a motorbike copper). I suppose this all comes down to how fluid your movements are and with how much authority you’re able to ride with. I always admire the way that some bikers can seem to just glide through from point to point in such a controlled and effortless fashion.
Having said that I continue to wear Hi-Vis as I agree that we can’t all be knights of the road and be looking in all directions at all times; therefore, anything I can do that might add to my chances of being spotted can’t be a bad thing. I’ve gone for the best of both worlds at the moment - I’m waiting for delivery of my Aerostich Roadcrafter which is all black, but with the Hi-Vis splashes.
Whatever you choose… hope it works for you :o)
Similar to what’s been said already about shape, I’ve performed an interesting experiment at home. There is a particular roundabout in Letchworth where I find that if I ride around almost upright, people see me and nothing happens.
If I go around the same roundabout a bit quicker and therefore lent over a bit more (and only a bit, mind you) people tend to pull out on me. It’s happened everytime I’ve tried it.
Like the article said, I’m pretty sure it’s down to them not recognising the shape so only their subconscious processes the image and by then, it’s too late and they’ve already pulled out on me.
It just highlighted to me, all the more, about road positioning and what to expect from other road users.
There is something to this. My own experience was: ‘L’ plates= no respect from other road users (including bikes). No ‘L’ Plates= slightly more respect. Scooter= not a lot of respect, especially from white vans. Mid-sized Bike= Respect! Cars (sometimes) move out of your way when you’re filtering, pedestrians think twice about stepping out in front of you- might have something to do with the noise as well as the general size/presence! High viz/ no hi viz I’m not so sure. Should wear mine more but usually rely on the reflective parts of my jacket/helmet/boots unless it’s really miserable weather.
indeed! mr hofty and the BCR boys will be after you!:D:D:P
hahaha how true!
Try a bright yellow HG Hi-viz jacket on a bright yellow bike with large frontal area and upright seatign position. People do see you comming and do get out of the way. I even get cyclists apologising for cutting me up!
I wear one during the week IF im commuting and usually i commute in the dark except for the peak of Summer. I dont at weekends and during sunny days. Commuters tend to be half asleep so i use all the benefits i can.
Just wear one when it’s appropriate. To be honest, id rather look slightly stupid doing 70 (ahem :Whistling: ) down the motorway with my high vis vest on in rain/fog/dark than be dead.
I dont care who you are or what you think. A high Vis vest WILL make you more visible.
Not to pick on any one person but where do you get that fact? It made sod all difference? How do you know that on 1 particular journey your Hi Vis didnt STOP someone making a silly maneovre? The trick is that the people it works on you’ll never know.
Even if it works on 1 person…it’s 1 less danger that you have to navigate around. 
The people that still pull out are usually completely incompetant on the road anyway (the change lane without looking brigade).
hate to wear it but needs must, especially at this time of year.
Most of my riding is early morning /evening commuting and so its an essential from Oct-March i feel.
I feel very sad sometimes- generally in the dark and especially the wet I ride in a high viz jacket. I work in the construction industry so it was issued anyway. If one person spots me then it’s helped.
I read Jay’s article on the Respro stuff though and when I was in Infinity having my bike serviced I grabbed one of the backpacks… good piece of kit and means I don’t wear the whole hi-viz jacket but people still see me- bonus! Good article Jay.
I’d rather increase any chance of a muppet seeing me before pulling out than deny it might help. Still I might stop short of wrapping myself in christmas-tree lights every time I go out in the dark…
I don’t understand the “it doesn’t matter what I wear” argument as I see different behaviour based on what I wear. All the studies back this up and show significant reductions in accidents, and where accidents occur, in death and injury, probably due to lower collision speeds, where riders are wearing conspicuous clothing etc. For example -
“drivers wearing any reflective or fluorescent clothing had a 37% lower risk … than other drivers. Compared with wearing a black helmet, use of a white helmet was associated with a 24% lower risk … . Self reported light coloured helmet versus dark coloured helmet was associated with a 19% lower risk. Three quarters of motorcycle riders had their headlight turned on during the day, and this was associated with a 27% lower risk … . No association occurred between risk and the frontal colour of drivers’ clothing or motorcycle.”
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/328/7444/857
There is an argument in academic circles that riders who wear hi viz have fewer accidents etc becasue they are likely to be less reckless riders whatever they wear and the hi viz is simply a symptom of their personality which leads also to a more measured and responsible riding style - I could not possibly comment on that. 
I don’t think that is an acedemic argument, I think it is a self-fullfilling prophecy. Those who choose to wear Hi-Vis and a white helmet (often with reflective stickers) are those who have thought about their riding techniques - and are probabaly insignificant in the KSI statistics. I’d be interested if anyone knows if a study has been done on this. If one hasn’t been done, a good thesis for a keen biker at UNI?
I’ve got it already. Also my boss (big bike hater, typical cager) gave me that yellow jacket with a reflective stripes. He want me to be seen (what a surprise). I’m the only biker he tolerate. LOL 
My answer is YES, wear it!
It’s not just in traffic that it can be useful, I’ve known of instances where bikers have had accidents on unlit country road, either due to their fault or in a couple of cases where they’ve hit wildlife, & have survived the accident but then been run over by vehicles that have come along a bit later & not seen a black clad biker laying in the road until too late - a bit of reflective material could have prevented this happening.
Wondered when this would come up!!
But to be honest, those leathers do help people to get out of the way, when riding during the day on a dual-carriageway or m-way, people change lanes when I come up behind them and let me through…
I dont use Hi-Vis, I ride around central london which is well lit, and I dont think the hi-vis stuff really would be useful, and (being completely vain) I dont like the look of it, maybe if they did them in flame shapes…
In my experience a Hi Viz jacket can be very useful if you need to get cagers to stop for an accident etc.
Most visible colors are Black(for contrast) and yellow for visibility. Ergo, bees are really safe, and almost non-existent in traffic accident terms. So everybody needs to paint their backsides in yellow and black stripes.
i have done, but i found it made sod all diffrence, if they cant see my twin headlights wich are huge! and very bright!, and they can’t hear my end can, then a hi-viz isnt going to make much diffrence.:w00t:
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Not to pick on any one person but where do you get that fact? It made sod all difference? How do you know that on 1 particular journey your Hi Vis didnt STOP someone making a silly maneovre? The trick is that the people it works on you’ll never know.
Even if it works on 1 person…it’s 1 less danger that you have to navigate around.
The people that still pull out are usually completely incompetant on the road anyway (the change lane without looking brigade).
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well first off its not a fact…its an opinion…‘i found’.
on my way to and from work, on scooter or big bike, most days i get someone pull out on or just not see me, or just act plain ignorant. Its happened with and without a hi-viz on;) sometimes the driver gestures that they are sorry, thats kool, some get irateagaijn with or without. i just found that it didnt make much diffrence using a hi viz.
what i did find is when i went from a scooter to a big bike i got alot more respect from other road users, i do have a loud can, i value this highly in making my presence felt and letting drivers know im there:) also i wear a camouflage pattern bike jacket…not visible…well no not really, but it has two very bright reflective pipings down both arms:w00t:and i figure if they havent seen my headlights(permently on, no off switch-k4 bike), they havent looked, if they havent looked… how they gonna see a hi viz jacket??its a personal choice at the end of day:)