Cyclist queries worth of high-visibility clothing

[huff3r]

I've done a big safety campaign with cyclists at work. Hi-viz is only part of it. The bikes that stood out had rapidly flashing LED lights, and a couple manged to sneak in some with modulators from the states. Those puppies looked like miniature suns sitting on the handlebars.

Sooner we can get them (modulators) authorised for motorbikes the better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNe5-G9q8QM

It still boils down to the fact that unless you ride defensively, chances are you'll be a SMIDSY

Those flashing thingys are fucking dangerous at night. The flashes wipe out your night vision and disorientate you to the point where you know theres a cyclist somewhere but fuck knows where!

A steady light, of a decent intensity is far more visible at night, as it allows the eye to track it and ascertain the exact whereabouts of the cyclist almost immediately.

[FJRider]

A Wellington teenager who has twice been hit by a car while biking to school in high-visibility clothing says the gear does little to keep cyclists safe.

He obviously didn't get the gear with armour in it ...

Ryan Crossman, 16, said he did not think high-visibility gear was "dorky" but doubted many of his Wellington High School classmates would wear it even if it was mandatory.

Their parents will get sick of paying the $150 fine if they DONT wear it ...

His comments come as coroner Gordon Matenga travels around New Zealand to hear evidence on the deaths of eight cyclists – five of whom died within days of each other.

So the safety helmet which IS mandatory ... DIDN'T save them ...

On the first day of the inquest last week, Cycling Advocates Network spokesman Patrick Morgan told Mr Matenga that making high-visibility gear mandatory could put people off cycling altogether because of a perception that the gear looked "dorky".

Would THAT be the case if it was made MANDATORY on motorcycles TOO ... ???

He said drivers had to look out for other cars, pedestrians and obstructions, which are not fluorescent, and making cyclists wear high-visibility clothing shifted the onus for avoiding a crash on to them.

Drivers ARE busy people ... just TOO MANY THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR ... about time cyclists pulled their weight ... and TOOK SOME RESPONSIBILITY ... on THEIR accidents ...

Ryan said wearing high-visibility cycle clothing was no guarantee you would avoid an accident – as he found out first hand.

The ONLY guarantee in life ... is you WILL die ... EVENTUALLY ...

Sooner or later ...

What steps you take to prolong that ... is up to the INDIVIDUAL ...

According to his mother, Beverly Crossman, he was "off school for a couple of days because he could hardly walk" on his badly bruised knee, after a car turned into him at the intersection of Riddiford and Mein streets in February last year.

I bet he was really pissed off he could "hardly walk" to/at school ... for a "couple" of days ...

Mrs Crossman said the driver did not see Ryan – who was wearing a large, yellow reflective vest – because of sunstrike.

There you go ... it's the CAGE DRIVERS fault again ... THEIR ACC LEVY SHOULD GO UP ...

Ryan was knocked off his bike again two weeks ago by a driver who opened the door of a parked van into his path, Mrs Crossman said.

When that happens to MOTORCYCLISTS ... it's the MOTORCYCLISTS fault ... so why is that the CYCLIST is NOT AT FAULT HERE ... ???

"If you wear the high-vis, it doesn't necessarily mean you're safe because the driver has to look to see you. If they don't look, you're going to get hit anyway," Mrs Crossman said.

There is SOME semblance of truth here ... I wonder why NOBODY has thought of THAT before ... ???

"Drivers seem to think they own the road. My son and my partner go out cycling all the time and it's amazing the times they come home and say they almost got hit, and they both wear high-vis all the time."

This WOMAN should be Minister of ACC ...

YET ... why am I not amazed she's NOT ... with all this amazing insight ...

Mrs Crossman said driver attitudes towards cyclists needed to change. Ryan said more education about cycle safety at high-school level could help because the only time he had been taught how to stay safe on a bike was at primary school.

JUST SEND HIM BACK TO PRIMARY SCHOOL ... FOR RE-TRAINING ...

[willytheekid]

Was a female, cycle lane was blocked by walkers and shit road design by council.

Yes, I was there.

Sorry, your quite right...it was a lady.
And unfortunatly there is no cycle lane on that road-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-door-her.html

And yeah....shit road design!

[jazfender]

Why does eight cyclists in five days in different parts of the country mean that there is a serious problem here?

Yah lives are precious and all that bollocks but 8 is still a statistically miniscule number of people that can easily be dismissed as coincidence.

Do-gooders will not rest until we are at 0% and by that point we will be riding mobility scooters on roads made of candyfloss.

...and the headlines will be about several people bashing their knees getting on to them over a ten year period.

[BAY CITY MOTORCYCLES]

Yep. Want to get these made up and plaster them everywhere!

Attachment 243603

Contact me if you do get some done.

[Swoop]

Training people to drive/ride, rather than merely passing the test would be the starting point.
The same applies to psyclists.

I've actually stopped wearing high viz after a bit of a go at it.

...without it we're seen as less predictable?

Rather seen as a "threat".