How does colour on your gear affect your safety?

[knottsav]

Needed new gear as the old stuff seemed to have shrunk in the wardrobe. Looked at various things, asked other bikers, took my wife to the store....was looking at a jacket with red on it, as the bike is red.....my wife said go for the black! Black it is.
Riding along a two lane road in town last friday, headlight on, red bike, red/black graphic lid (black menacing jacket)...motorist pulls across into my lane while I was at her door. Sat on the horn and she kept coming....thankfully I saw it all coming and was already heading for the median (and all the grit that the DCC seems intent on never sweeping after laying it as a road hazzard!). Seemed neither colour, lights or sound made a difference in this case.

As an aside, those with black visors....are you forever swapping them out for clear when riding home as it gets dark?

All in favor of driving defensively...I bought gear merely to protect in the event of an off, and against the elements...seems the jury is still out on the visibility issue....but its been an interesting thread (excuse the pun).

[awayatc]

re dark visors......
I got glasses now with lenses that adjust with/to the amount of light outside.......
Best thing I ever got!...clear visor/clear vision...all the time.
Dark in sun/clear in dark
Plus good to wear glasses under helmet....when you lift your visor, you still have something in front of your eyes....
I wear black and black myself.....
have 3 headlights on my Bike hardwired on....
But don't count on being seen.....
seems to work.
Maybe fluro gives you a false sense of security?
Best protection out there is "you...."

[knottsav]

By glasses, you mean prescription eyeware that have 'progressive' lenses (or however they refer to them)...or are you meaning a fancy pair of sunglasses? Thinking I'd like an extra headlight.

re dark visors......
I got glasses now with lenses that adjust with/to the amount of light outside.......
Best thing I ever got!...clear visor/clear vision...all the time.
Dark in sun/clear in dark
Plus good to wear glasses under helmet....when you lift your visor, you still have something in front of your eyes....
I wear black and black myself.....
have 3 headlights on my Bike hardwired on....
But don't count on being seen.....
seems to work.
Maybe fluro gives you a false sense of security?
Best protection out there is "you...."

[Toffee]

I'm very interested in this proof. If I could find a study suggesting this then I may consider slightly different gear. Could you post a URL to this study please.

ps. Not interested in here-say. Want an actual comprehensive report to read.

I came across this on the ACC ride forever website: http://www.rideforever.co.nz/gear_up/visibility.html

"What you wear can make a difference. In one recent New Zealand study, riders wearing reflective or fluorescent clothing had a 37% lower risk than others who did not. Wearing of white helmets was also associated with a 24% lower risk than wearing black helmets. Riders with lights on during the day had a 27% lower risk."

37% is a major difference - certainly made me think - anything to help stack the odds a bit in my favour especially as an inexperienced rider? I think that the study is referenced on the page.

[twinkle]

Careful how you read that study though, all it really says is that if you see a rider with a white helmet they are (statistically at least) at 24% lower risk than a rider wearing a black helmet, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is just because they are wearing a white helmet that they are at a lower risk.

It could just mean that the group of people who wear white helmets have more experience, more skill, or maybe more likely they have a different attitude to riding and the traffic around them than the black helmet wearing group.

I doubt very much that just because you chuck a white lid on your nog that you will suddenly magically be 24% less likely to bin.

I came across this on the ACC ride forever website: http://www.rideforever.co.nz/gear_up/visibility.html

"What you wear can make a difference. In one recent New Zealand study, riders wearing reflective or fluorescent clothing had a 37% lower risk than others who did not. Wearing of white helmets was also associated with a 24% lower risk than wearing black helmets. Riders with lights on during the day had a 27% lower risk."

37% is a major difference - certainly made me think - anything to help stack the odds a bit in my favour especially as an inexperienced rider? I think that the study is referenced on the page.

[p.dath]

...
As an aside, those with black visors....are you forever swapping them out for clear when riding home as it gets dark?
...

I used a Shoei half tint visor, and never swap it out. I ride regularly during the day and night.

[Toffee]

Careful how you read that study though, all it really says is that if you see a rider with a white helmet they are (statistically at least) at 24% lower risk than a rider wearing a black helmet, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is just because they are wearing a white helmet that they are at a lower risk.

It could just mean that the group of people who wear white helmets have more experience, more skill, or maybe more likely they have a different attitude to riding and the traffic around them than the black helmet wearing group.

I doubt very much that just because you chuck a white lid on your nog that you will suddenly magically be 24% less likely to bin.

Had the very same thought when I read the article BUT but I still throw on the high viz in the rain / fog / gloom.

Another tip from the site I wonder about is the suggestion to flash your headlight on and off high beam (daytime of course) as you approach a car waiting to cross your path at a high speed intersection. 95% of my riding is on the open road and although I cover my brake, ride to the right of the lane and watch drivers' eyes, steering wheel, tyres I hate that point of no return when if a car did pull out it would be very difficult to hit your escape path and / or emergency brake.

Does anyone use this strategy to warn vehicles of your approach, or would drivers just see it as a signal for "you go first" or "speed camera about?"

I like the similar strategy of tapping the brake to make your brake light flash if you have spotted an unexpected hazard ahead and think that the traffic behind you may not have.

[mowgli]

Colour won't keep you out of trouble - staying alert will. Approaching traffic and intersections I regularly remind myself "I am invisible" so it really doesn't matter what colour my gear is. I ride a black bike with dark gear and a black helmet.

If your gear makes you feel visible then watch out that it doesn't lead to a false sense of security. Practise active safety don't rely on passive measures. Only you can keep you out of trouble.

[twinkle]

Another tip from the site I wonder about is the suggestion to flash your headlight on and off high beam (daytime of course) as you approach a car waiting to cross your path at a high speed intersection.

Does anyone use this strategy to warn vehicles of your approach, or would drivers just see it as a signal for "you go first" or "speed camera about?"

It has always meant "you go first" as far as I know. I think I would end up flying over someones bonnet if I started flashing my lights at them in that situation...

[Capt M Stubbing]

i wore black everything for 20 years, no problem. last year i got a yellow lid and a fluro jacket... and some prick smashed into me. stuffed me real good.
out of hospital....got a matt black lid.
However... i see bikes around as i do lots of ks, bright lids and jackets do make a difference..if you are looking.

[Tigadae]

I have three different jackets in three different colours, on Saturday i was a pillioin and was having a red day, Sunday i was out ridding on my own and felt like a black jacket day well Monday came round and was back to the grind of work, maybe this Saturday ill pull out my colourful jacket, for me its what kind of mood im in just go with whatever feels good to you...

[vifferman]

Going to States next month and bringing back a headlight modulator. This can flash 240 times a second when I depress horn button.

Good luck with that - they're illegal here.
I nyooster have a tail-light flasher, that flashed the brake lights when I braked (fast at first, then over 8 blinks it got slower until it stayed on). It worked really well, but failed the first WOF I had after that. The reason given was that "they" (presumably LTNZ) determined they caused target fixation ("Oooohhh...... lookit the pretty blinky lights!") Strangely, I read shortly after that that LTNZ were considering making them mandatory for bikers, along with fluoro gear, in an attempt to lower the accident/injury rate.

About statistics: it's almost impossible to base something on a very simplistic "cause and effect". To say, "Bikers who wear fluoro gear are less likely to have an accident" is dumb, as it doesn't take into account other factors. F'rinstance, it may be that wearers of fluoro are more likley to be safety-conscious, and ride like noobs because they're scared of injury. It may be a novely thing, where people notice fluoro-clad bikers at first, lowering the accident rate, then with overuse they become inured to it.

[pritch]

I did a defensive driving course about a year ago. The instructor told us that the safest colours for cars were red and yellow.

I have an ACC "Safe Driving Policy" booklet here, they say red and white are safest, I'd add yellow and maybe light green to that. Another post here said silver. ACC say silver is worst, in bad weather it just blends into the background and disappears.

So, of course, most of our fleet is silver. The Fleet guys say they want a wide range of colours so as to make the cars easier to sell. What actually happens, I suspect, is that the manufacturers supply the less popular colours so that the hypothetical Jones's can select from the prettier colours.

We can all quote whatever research we like, and the one I like says that motorists respond to perceived threats. So feel free to wear your fluoro vest, just don't rely on it.

[jetboy]

How does colour on your gear affect your safety?

You will probably find it unsafe to ride wearing red through a Crips area and blue through a Bloods area of South Auckland

[alley cat]

I have three different jackets in three different colours, on Saturday i was a pillioin and was having a red day, Sunday i was out ridding on my own and felt like a black jacket day well Monday came round and was back to the grind of work, maybe this Saturday ill pull out my colourful jacket, for me its what kind of mood im in just go with whatever feels good to you...

yes women are from venus