Something interesting happened the last two days. I had two different stangers approach me while I was walking from my bike into the bank (yesterday) and the post office (today). Yesterday an older gentleman (~mid 70's) stopped in front of me in his car and asked if the orange safety vest I was wearing was something new required by law. I told him as far as I knew it wasn't but I like to wear it to be more visible. He said that as he was backing out of his parking spot, he noticed me right away standing at my bike and thought that me wearing it, definitely helped him notice me and thought all motorcyclist should wear them. In his opinion, it definitely helped him notice me.
Today as I was walking into the post office, a fellow motorcyclist stopped me and asked about the Hi-Viz helmet and vest. Since my Hi-Viz helmet is a modular I was still wearing it while I was in the PO. He said that the first thing that caught his eye was the helmet, then the vest and then he realized it was a person walking. Sort of like the seeing the Chesire Cat grin beore the cat I guess. We chatted for a few minutes mostly me answering questions about why the modular helmet and how did I like it, did I think it helped people spot me. I said, "I caught your eye right away didn't I?" He said, "Well, yeah I guess it did". He mentioned that he was looking at buying a new helmet and was actually considering one of the small "half helmets", but recently he saw another motorcyclist crash in front of him and he was sliding along the pavement on the side of his head, but he was fortunate enough to be wearing a full face helmet. That convinced him to scrap the half helmet idea and when he saw my helmet, he was re-thinking the decision of getting an all black full face.
I know there are a few riders who wear the Hi-Viz helmet and clothing and some who don't think it makes a difference, but I didn't really know for sure if it works as well as it's supposed to. But after these last two conversations, I am convinced that wearing it is more of a real benefit than just for my own peace of mind. In my early twenties, I probably would have never considered wearing either of these items, I probably would have even mocked one of my friends for wearing them, but as we get older (read: wiser) we tend to forget about looking cool. Now my mind set is more about "Function before Fashion". I would rather look like a geek than look at the body cast I could be wearing.
Here's the gear that I normally wear...
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Interesting point. For the most part those neon yellow vests seem to work really well (color of your helmet). Whenever coming up on a construction site first think I usually see are the guys where the vests. Something about the color is eye catching. I should probably wear high viz gear but being young I'm not that smart :tongue:
Good idea though. Gotta be on your toes especially this time of the year with all the distracted cagers...
[image: View Post]TheWarrior17, on 05 April 2012 - 10:18 PM, said:
I should probably wear high viz gear but being young I'm not that smart :tongue:
-Mike
Im on the same page with you... probably should, but dont. At least my jacket is silver. and my helmet is pretty damn obnoxious. :wink: [image: Posted Image]
In my experiences it don’t matter what color your wearing when a cager pulls out in front of you but if it makes you fill safer by all means wear it.
+1 When a cager is driving "full retard" there's little hope of being seen. But we may stand a chance with the ones that are Half looking.The Hi-Viz may catch their attention.
(I'll go one further with headlight modulation)
I do also believe in the black/white police look drawing attention, but not into the open face helmet, bullet proof vest, short sleeve popeye arm get up. :wheel:
Good idea to increase your visibility, no doubt. I've taken to wearing a gloss white modular helmet and hi-viz reflective vest over my gear for my morning 90+ mile commute (I don't commute on the bike every day). My only way out of town and most direct way to work is via I-40 interstate for about 50 miles. I believe some of the biggest dangers for us as riders is from cagers changing lanes on the 4-6 lane slab. They seem to be in a world of their own...
When I switched from a gray textile jacket to a hi-viz Aerostich Darien, I could (and still can) literally watch people's heads turn as I rode through intersections.
It seems like the most common comment after a car-motorcycle interaction is "I didn't see him." So why not use that information to advantage?
Wearing Hi-Viz gear is by no means a substitute for being careful or an attentive rider! There is NO guarantee that wearing Hi-Viz gear will ensure that someone ACKNOWLEDGES you. Yes they may SEE you, but that doesn't mean they recognize you as a danger. Case in point, I saw a driver T-Bone a large 2 ton truck as it was turning left (truck had the left turn light), the other car driver must have seen the green arrow for his side of the intersection (he was heading straight), and started to go. BAM! small Toyota Corolla hits the truck! The truck wasn't small and not a dark color either, it was a light grey and clearly had the right of way. If someone is day dreaming, no amount of Hi-Viz gear or vehicle size is going to matter.
As far as my initial post, I just thought it was very reassuring that two different people pointed out to me that they were alerted to my presence due to the Hi-Viz gear I was wearing. To add to TomP's remark, I have seen this several times too, drivers ready to pull out from a side street, suddenly stop when the turn their head back in my direction. Is it the Hi-Viz gear or just an attentive driver? Who knows? All I know is that I'll continue to wear this gear until someone hits me and still says "I never even saw you!" (Knock on wood) As a side note, when I am out sport riding, I'll usually be in my leathers, which are 90% bright white. Being on a all black motor cycle, when I'm on the VFR, I still feel pretty safe with just the leathers. However on the Duc, if drivers cannot see a bright red and white object in front of them, I don't think they should be driving! (The Duc is also very "audible" I might add, not Harley obnoxious, but more audible than the VFR)
In short, if you want to be seen on two wheels, look like a cop and everyone will notice you. Otherwise, wear whatever you wish cause drivers could care less.
I just ordered a Hi-Viz Joe Rocket jacket yesterday. When I get it, I will report my experiences. I ordered it thinking it will give me a little more visiblity.
As long as they don't make this mandatory in Australia I will be happy. I choose not to wear Hi-Viz because I believe the jury is out in that regard when it comes to a dense population of numbskull car drivers. Noobtastic14 raises the point we all need to be aware of. A funny thought experiment on the same subject, ever wondered why we don't know what time it is when someone asks us, immediately after we have just glanced at our watch or phone? Same concept - we were looking for a specific time. We look, we see it isn't that specific time, and look away. We haven't actually performed a cognitive task that places that time in our short term memory.
Be safe out there... at the very least, wear protective gear. I ride a bright red bike with headlights on. I could be a cyclist wearing brighter than Hi-Viz gear, I could be a truck on an overcast day with no headlights on. I have seen people ignore even these typically fairly visible vehicles.
This summer I got nudged from behind by a car while wearing an orange reflective vest. In broad daylight. At a stop sign where you have either turn left or right (road ends), so missing a stop sign isn't an excuse either.
The lady in the car apparently didn't see me :blink: until the last second and had to panic brake. Luckily she just nudged me a bit and didn't run me over. I didn't know what to say to her.
That incident kinda reset my expectation of hi-vis gear effectiveness. I still wear it cause it can't hurt but don't get a false sense of security.
I go hi-viz myself. Anything that might assist another driver see you is a very good thing, and will take any edge available to me. I don't assume that drivers will see me, but I know that they are more likely to see the bright yellow motorcyclist than one dressed in dark grey or black blending in with the background and the asphalt.
There is a very good reason that emergency services (police, EMS, firefighters), tow truck drivers, etc. wear high viz. It makes a difference.
In Finland, when the driving season starts in April May and it is still cold, I use this gear.
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The problem especially in the spring is that the driver are not used to look for the bikes and then all visibility is advance. Later in the summer, I switch to the leather and that one is silver with antrasite helmet unless I go to the highway when I prefer at least the hi-viz helmet.
A couple weeks ago sitting at a light I watched a rider and pillion go through an intersection wearing those fluorescent yellow high viz helmets, immediately caught my eye, then I noticed the safety vests they were wearing.
As they disappeared into traffic across the intersection I finally noticed they were on a nice gloss black 5th gen VFR.
If hi-viz helps one cager wake up from their coma then it might be worth it. But I still like the 'dress like a cop' approach better! :happy:
I have a hi viz yellow Olympia Phantom suit. It is almost embarassingly bright. I haven't had any comments from people riding or driving, but I had a janitor of a school tell me he freaked out when he saw me, thinking I was a fireman.
I mostly wear it because I can be commuting in the early monring and near darkness...I have noticed that at night, someone wearing a highly reflective vest is much more visible to me so I added reflective tape to this vest as well and to my helmet...BTW the biotch that took a left turn decided she needed to head left across a 4 lane street without looking becse she was confused.and needed to turn left onto the next street...she cut of me and 4 other cars...wouldn't have mattered if all the other cars were Hi Viz Yellow!
I think Hi Vis yellow is much more visible than Orange BTW, but it clashes with my grey helmet:
I have a hi viz yellow Olympia Phantom suit. It is almost embarassingly bright. I haven't had any comments from people riding or driving, but I had a janitor of a school tell me he freaked out when he saw me, thinking I was a fireman.
I wear one too and it took awhile to get used to some of the "gaukers" as I passed by and walking into the gas station gets some strange looks also but I don't care. I think it makes you more visible to the motorist who are paying attention but not to the drones who are motoring along and multi-tasking. If you happen to be having a little more fun than the law allows it does make you more of a target for law enforcement and if somebody does report some of your riding and gives a description of you and the bike there's a good chance you won't be able to say it wasn't you. Not that I've ever had that situation come up. I always consider myself invisble even with hi'viz with the exception of law enforcement. They make a living out of paying closer attention to what's going on.
I wear Hi-vis summer and winter jackets all the time since they came down to sane prices. I've seen cars react differently and give me a bit more room. I think you're foolish not to try to be visible, but you do what you like.
A number of years ago in a motorcycle mag, one of the editors did a test to see if Hi-Vis clothing would make a noticeable difference in riding around town, so I don't remember all the specifics, just the main points. He wore all black, on a black motorcycle, a Aerostitch Hi-Vis (bright neon green yellow with lots of reflective patches) suit on a bright yellow motorcycle, and then, dressed in gear and rode a motorcycle similar to the local two-wheeled police officers. The results? He was equally ignored with the all black setup as he was with the Hi-Vis setup, but strangely enough, was easily noticed, and even commanded attention to the point that drivers would get out of his way, when wearing the gear/riding the motorcycle similar to the local PO.
In short, if you want to be seen on two wheels, look like a cop and everyone will notice you. Otherwise, wear whatever you wish cause drivers could care less.
Funny you should mention this - It has always amazed me how cagers can fail to see us... I think I got the most attention on my previous bike (VTR1000F) as I'd see cager heads bobbing around looking for the source of the noise (wide open Yoshies)... After binning that one and purchasing the white VFR with matching white helmet over black leathers, I find cagers see me before they hear me - I look like a cop at first glance and they literally GTF out of my way on the highway...
Was coming home from our restaurant a couple of days ago, speeding a bit, bearing down on another bike on Dorset Rd, could see him start constantly checking his mirrors and his head was bobbing around like one of those toy dogs on the parcel shelf of a car... As I got close he gave in, indicated and pulled over, gave him a wave on my way past and he threw his arms in the air - guess he figured I was a cop also...!!!
Oh, if you don't want to buy all new gear, Walmart sells a really nice reflective vest in lime green with scotchlite stripes for under twenty bucks. It zips up and doesn't flap around like a cheaper one. Look in the section where they have the Dickies clothes. Get the XL or XXL and it can go right over your existing jacket. I also have hi-viz gloves from a workwear store. Every bit helps.
There is an interesting article in the UK RiDE magazine. Arrived on Saturday about the impact and possible benefits of Hi-Viz clothing and Bright Helmets. Basically and this is the abridged version, it makes very little difference, the human eye is focussed on detecting motion, so a travelling motorcycle moving in a straight line towards that person is generating little detectable motion. Also a bike takes up about a quarter of the road space even a modest car occupies as well as the fact the roads are littered with other hi-viz object competing for the drivers attention (road signs, marking, lights), so dipped headlights are currently still the best method of advertising your presence on the road, at least this is the case until the EU makes it mandatory for all cars to have daylight running lights.
On another note, a nice deep sounding exhaust never hurts, saved me a couple of times.
In my experiences it don’t matter what color your wearing when a cager pulls out in front of you but if it makes you fill safer by all means wear it.
+1 When a cager is driving "full retard" there's little hope of being seen. But we may stand a chance with the ones that are Half looking.The Hi-Viz may catch their attention.
(I'll go one further with headlight modulation)
I do also believe in the black/white police look drawing attention, but not into the open face helmet, bullet proof vest, short sleeve popeye arm get up. :wheel:
But one thing that I have consider here lately is the fact that if I was to be knock off the road, it mite be easier to find me in the trees and bushes with Hi-Viz stuff.
I thought more about this thread and would like to point out one thing. Each and every one of us on this forum are biased when it comes to looking at motorcycles. Just the fact that you are a rider means that your eye will find bikes in a crowd, and when they are wearing Hi-viz gear you note how quickly you looked because of it. A cager doesn't have that "find a bike" instinct like we do, so it is very different. Keep that in mind.
When a cager is driving "full retard" there's little hope of being seen. But we may stand a chance with the ones that are Half looking.The Hi-Viz may catch their attention.
I do also believe in the black/white police look drawing attention, but not into the open face helmet, bullet proof vest, short sleeve popeye arm get up. :wheel:
+1
I wear Hi-vis summer and winter jackets all the time since they came down to sane prices. I've seen cars react differently and give me a bit more room. I think you're foolish not to try to be visible, but you do what you like.
I have been experimenting with my Spidi Voyager H20 jacket. So far so good with a few cagers taking a second look. This and some HID lights on my VFR make it pretty hard to miss.
OK, fashion question for the fashion-challenged. I'm thinking about investing in a new jacket (as I've gotten 13 good years out of my black Joe Rocket Ballistic):
I'm looking for a color that will be cooler for our hot summers here in Spokane, WA, and have considered the Hi-Viz option. Thing is, I'm wondering what it will look like with my yellow 2000 VFR. I know it's stupid to worry about stuff like that, but am curious to get some feedback on it. I'm going back and forth between the GunMetal and the Hi-Viz.
OK, fashion question for the fashion-challenged. I'm thinking about investing in a new jacket (as I've gotten 13 good years out of my black Joe Rocket Ballistic):
I'm looking for a color that will be cooler for our hot summers here in Spokane, WA, and have considered the Hi-Viz option. Thing is, I'm wondering what it will look like with my yellow 2000 VFR. I know it's stupid to worry about stuff like that, but am curious to get some feedback on it. I'm going back and forth between the GunMetal and the Hi-Viz.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
James
Being a wearer of Hi-Viz clothing I don't think it's a bad thing, but I would probably go with the gun metal and add a Hi-Viz vest to wear on top of the jacket. This way you have an option of wearing with or without Hi-Viz, just in case you're feeling adventurous.
Thanks for the opinion, and yes, I'd been thinking about that option. The only thing I was worried about is the hindered air-flow with the vest on, riding in really high heat. Hence, trying to keep the layers to a minimum (unless there are some vests that are really good for allowing air to get through them). I don't know....what d'ya think? Still go with the gray?
The vest I have is very ventilated and I don't know about WA, but So. Cal gets kind of toasty, and I have no complaints, in fact my jacket has less ventilation than the vest.
Being a night shift police officer, the 2 wheel vs 4+ wheel accidents that I've seen all had two things in common - motorcycle riding style, and cager "didn't see him."
First wreck, Harley vs car at a stop sign intersection. Both drivers were drunk, according to blood draw at the hospital. Harley ran stop sign, cager pulled out in front of him. Harley rider (well, his head) went through the windshield and the rest of him rocketed off into the bushes. Rider's helmet chin strap was a convenient carry handle for his severed head. Cager "didn't see him." Rider estimated speed: 50 mph, through a four way stop.
Second wreck, rider of stolen motorcycle sees cop sitting in a parking lot and whacks the throttle. Crests a hill just past the parking lot while a cager is pulling out of a gas station that lies just under the crest. Rider ended up in the back seat. Estimated speed: 100 mph cresting a hill. Cager had no way of seeing him.
Third wreck, rider of stolen motorcycle just ran from the police. Crests small (different from second wreck) hill while cager is pulling out of another gas station. Rider has time to lay it down, but it doesn't help. This time the cage was a small truck. There were two distinct impact points on the tailgate: one for the bike, one for the rider. Estimated motorcycle speed: 180 mph cresting a hill. Cager probably couldn't have seen him, but the distance of the wreck from the crest of the hill makes it questionable. Interesting note, I found the rider's patella about 25 yards away, in the median. When medics picked him up, he was like a bag of mush - there was almost no structural integrity left inside of him.
One rider had visible gear, two (I'll let you guess which ones) were wearing no motorcycle-appropriate gear at all.
I suppose the moral of this story is, it doesn't matter what you wear if you're being an ass. Personally, I don't have any hi-vis gear. Even after seeing these wrecks, I still ride like an ass occasionally. If wearing hi-vis gear makes you feel better, you might as well do it, but nothing will ever replace being a cautious rider.
Nice. I know a paramedic who related a similar story about one of his first calls on his new job, 2 riders down in some roadside brush, single motorcycle accident. It wasn't 2 riders when they got there though, just an upper and lower half of one rider.
I keep that thought in my head when I crack open the throttle and ride like an ass. There's a time and place and I pick my spots. I know my Aerostich suit isn't going to keep me together if I wrap it around a light pole or tree at 90mph, and trees don't really care if I have on a hi-viz vest.
End of thread · 45 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 7 May 2016
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