Hi Vis.......shove It Where The Sun Doesn't Shine.......

Discuss: hi-vis is an idiotic fad
If you wear it, you’re helping pave the way to it being mandated, and it doesn’t even work, argues MAG President Ian Mutch



MY dog hates men in hi-vis gear. I’m serious; he leaps at them, teeth bared. Being less than a keen advocate of this kit I wonder if I have been muttering about it in my sleep and he has picked up on it.

Now as MAG’s President I am all for people dressing how they like and if you really want to wear a hi-vis vest then you have every right to. I just wish people, and particularly bikers, wouldn’t do it.

When I expressed that sentiment in MAG’s magazine recently an irate member emailed to berate me over my dictatorial attitude. ‘What has happened to your respect for others to chose for themselves?’ he demanded to know. I re-read what I’d written and I had, as I thought, simply written that I wished bikers wouldn’t wear this stuff. Some people simply can’t tell the difference between a chap saying that he wished people wouldn’t do things and insisting they don’t.

Why does it bother me so much that many bikers, cyclists, TV presenters and schoolchildren clothe themselves in these ubiquitous yellow vests these days? I’ll tell you why. It’s because when a lot of people start doing something like this, it eventually makes those who don’t leap lemming-like into their tide of blinding conformity begin to look conspicuous. And yes, there is irony in that, is there not?

The safety lobby operates by trying to ramp up the compliance level with dayglo (yes, I know it’s a specific product, but it’s easier to type than hi-vis). When voluntary compliance has reached its peak, then they start suggesting legislation to force the bolshy minority into clone-like conformity.

The argument was exactly the same with helmets. By the time the helmet law came in almost 90% of riders were wearing them voluntary. I wore one most of the time.

A little while ago I interviewed Steve Baker MP, who rides a KTM, is an enthusiastic MAG member and son of former South West MAG Rep Mike Baker. Steve emphasised how government legislation can only be so far ahead of public opinion. Advocates of legislation conduct surveys to assess just how far a given protocol has been adopted or accepted on a voluntary level. If they judge that the proposed law can be easily enforced then that is the time to move. In short, they can get away with it.

The growth in the use of dayglo has now reached such a point that we find the voluptuous Sarah Beany from the property TV show wrapped in yellow vest because she is standing in a room that is being papered. I suppose it’s conceivable that a wild paper hanger might fail to spot her ample curves and swipe her with a paste brush were she wearing something as inconspicuous as a dark brown woollie, for example. Actually, having wandered down this avenue of illustration – how long will it be before Nigella Lawson is ordered to cover herself in case a budding chef fails to notice her and she cops it from a flamboyantly wielded egg whisk?

But of course, this is all playful diversion and dayglo for bikers makes sense, doesn’t it? Does it hell! It’s an idiotic fad and all the worse for the fact that it implicitly transfers responsibility for being seen from the motorist to the biker. There is no evidence to suggest that it makes any difference at all. Ah ha, but would I still oppose it being made compulsory if such evidence existed? Damn right I would. Why? Cos it’s naff!

To me biking is about freedom and travel and exhilaration and it’s about free expression in an artistic sense. I like wearing rustic gear on a bike. I like browns or khaki colours. I think of myself as more Indiana Jones than Evel Knievel.

If you want to make sure people see you then give them time to see you. Don’t come flying over the brow of a hill at 90mph or overtake a bus at 60mph in a 40 limit and scream at the guy that pulled out of a side turning thinking he could make it before the bus reached him. Think ahead, be cautious, consider your road positioning, visualise worst-case scenario and make sure you have an exit plan. Put yourself in the other guy’s shoes and don’t trust to these idiotic canary outfits. They’re for amateurs.

IAN Mutch is President of the Motorcycle Action Group and author of five books on motorcycle travel and culture. A former ship's navigating officer, he describes himself as "jolly clever".

That's Mutch's view. What’s yours?



Read more: http://www.visordown.com/features/discuss-hi-vis-is-an-idiotic-fad/24473.html#ixzz2t2A6OrE4

 

I often wear it, but never yellow or orange. Mine is pink and I don't expect anyone to actually see it. The day I rely on someone seeing me because of what I wear is the day I will be giving up. If they aren't looking they aren't going to notice me, even if I dress like a Christmas tree.

But my mates like it because I'm easier to spot when I've got lost, and the commuters on my regular route to work seem to recognise me approaching from behind and often pull over to give me room to pass. Some days it's like the parting of the Red Sea. I always say thank you, so maybe that's why they're so considerate.
Either that, or the thought of women on motorcycles just scares them.


Apart from the commute, I don't notice any difference when I don't wear it. It really depends on what I feel like on the day. I would not like it to be compulsory. I'd stop wearing it immediately if I seriously thought it would lead to that happening.

 

Can the admins please contact HYABUSADAVE and warn him that his account has been hacked?

Fortunately the real HYABUSADAVE can be found on the SEC Facebook pages with the photos (below) he has proudly uploaded of himself.

BeeLady - don't be put off by people who only ride in daylight, at weekends, when the sun is shining, in remote parts of Sussex where there is no traffic! If they ever commuted on a bike on a winters morning they would scare themselves less!

 

Whatever your circumstances it's your own decision to decide what to wear, as said the onus is not up to us to try and make ourselves luminescent to morons. But! We do have more hurty places than someone in a cage.
I would rather it be my decision what I wore out on a ride, whether it be a winters foggy night, or a bright summers day.
There enough legislation strangling this country already, we don't need to encourage any more.
The way the m/cycle test is going in a decade the will be a dearth of upcoming Bikers. Is this a government plan?

I have noticed in the past that if your bike is a close match to the plods, you do get a couple of seconds hesitation from said morons. On the other hand I have driven a huge white panel van and the fookers will pull right out on me, at the last second.
On that observation a Biker has to have an almighty god-given bundle of luck, not to become a casualty.
It's the danger element, be honest how many times have you lot got back from a balls out ride. Flushed with adrenalin, and know you have beaten the odds. That's what it's all about in our modern nanny state, is it not?

 

What about when someone knocks you off your bike and leaves you injured in a dark road. Personally I don't want to be wearing black - it can make a hell of a mess of the next car that hits you and its very uncomfortable for them as they drive over you - worse than pot holes I'll make my own choices thank you.

 

Hey, Hay. That certainly woke up the Forum, thought you all had emigrated.

 

On the news yesterday evening David Cameron was wearing a high viz jacket and hard hat to walk through a puddle.....that's someone who is seriously risk averse

 

All Brand new, no doubt paid for by us the tax payer I bet he has a new one every time he goes out on a jaunt when it is too late.

 

those of you that have attended the biker down course will know what im mumbling on about, but they have a great fella in the evening there called kevin williams , now kev does a segment on "the science of being seen" he states that hi-viz isnt always the best opt and that urban camo and other surrounding really depend on how affective hi-viz actually is .. for example
A police officer on a police bike is lit up like a christmas tree in a country lane or a small village .. but when put into a urban enviroment such as london the hi viz becomes inaffective because of the background lights. the eyes do not adjust fast enough for us to distingish the shape and colours from one another .

For a country lane in the daytime for example Hi viz can be detrimental to the effect because again the colours of the trees and the outline of you and the bike blur you are more likely to be seen dressed all in black !
Now i dont rememeber the full works kev's on fb under survial skills and i think theres a link on the biker down page but have a chat with him if you wanna know more.
so unfortunatly for us lads (although i wonder about some of us) PINK ! is infact the best colour to wear to be seen :O

stone me i was paying attention :\

 

a few of us on here know Kevin from other forums and have been out and about with him

 

I do. Been on a one-to-one with him and had a great day, very informative.
I wear hi-vis but I'm not convinced it makes any difference.
I certainly wouldn't want to see it compulsory!

 

Well has anyone thought how good hi viz is when you are riding with you head light on and in some cases Hi Beam in the daytime? I bet it makes very little difference wearing hi viz from a head on point of view, what should be law all bikes during the day should have head lights on in my view.

 

That's why I weave sometimes when approaching a vehicle waiting in a side road.
Even if they think I'm crazy that's good. At least they've noticed me!

 

Any light coming towards you must help people not pull out Roadwart? If a car or not, I know one thing since I started riding a bike a few years back I was a little shocked at how many people pulled out in front of me even with my headlights on, it just seemed that "oh ok it is a bike I am going to pull out what ever" but running hi beam on no one seems to pull out, so the brighter the better in the day time for me.

I would think having some form of Hi Viz Side ways on I.E. on the side of the bike and side of you could help especially in the dark than head on.

On another note, bikes in the day time who do not use headlights, it is not all about coming towards people, a bike in the day that comes up behind me with no lights on pretty well often does not get seen, especially if you have mirrors that vibrate, where if they had a light on I would see them straight away. I would only assume same in a car you often do not see a bike straight away with no lights on.

 

My honda (when the bastard works) uses a constant low beam when turned on (ooo er) and it seems to make little difference regardless of brightness ... bear in mind its a white bike with white leathers and big shiney silver bits, regardless of the visual aspects if your not expecting something or looking for it every few minutes then you wont see it ... commen example how many times you looked for the tv remote and its been right in front of you ? same thing. regardless of what we wear most car drivers that have never ridden are not taking into account the commen biker, personally and this is from a younger (27) rider, i personally feel that a CBT should be a compulsory requirement for car drivers. it will give them a better understanding of the lines we take and how bikes move and react etc... just a thought but hey it would make me feel better watching a bunch of cagers wobbling about lol.