France and Ireland pass hi-viz law

[Muppet]

Ironic me starting this after seeing the thread "An Investigation Of Motorcycle Rider Use Of And Attitudes To High Visibility Gear".

Perhaps their people can have a chat with the French and Irish people?

Anyway, I was waiting for 'er indoors to come out of work on Riccarton Ave today and was reading this article...

"France and Ireland pass hi-viz law"

Article in April 2012 issue of 'RiDE' says this new law, which requires riders and pillions to wear reflective gear with a total surface area of at least 150 square centimetres, comes into force in France next January (2013) and in Ireland in 2014.

About 5 mins later I saw a biker on a mid sized naked bike riding towards me with headlight on, guy had all the gear etc Thing is had he been wearing hi-viz or reflective gear, it wouldn't have made one bit of difference to me spotting him frankly.

After the amount of nobs I see riding around Christchurch with no gloves, I think authorities should worry more about protective gear than reflective gear. Helmets, boots and gloves and jackets and pants with armour would be better than a few pieces of shiny tape!

Doubtless I'm breaching someone's rights or worse, hurting their feelings by making this statement.

[rickstv]

Thats a 2 inch strip 1 foot long in the old money.

[Muppet]

Thats a 2 inch strip 1 foot long in the old money.

Which is my language luckily. So it's roughly the size of a your standard 30 cm ruler then? Bloody hell, like that's going to save lives. I can just see the thousands of poms who tour France every year going for that one!

[bogan]

Thats a 2 inch strip 1 foot long in the old money.

Might be some more inventive (and offensive) arrangements of the high vis area I think...

[george formby]

Something to bare in mind about France. If you do have an off & an Ambo or two turn up the first thing they ask you for is a credit card. Private services always beat the state ambos to the scene.

Heaven forbid that we head down this road. We are still lucky barstewards

[Zedder]

The future for NZ?

Police in Aussie are pushing harder for compulsory hi-viz.

However, they also want to be able to enforce wearing of helmet, jacket, pants, gloves and boots of a type approved by a roading authority.

Electronic tags on bikes to track speedsters are on the list as well.

[slofox]

I seem to remember a post on here some time ago that showed pics of jackets that had led strips either stuck on or built in. Anyone else remember that?


EDIT: Kinda like this...(I found a linky).



I would probably wear something like this or something with reflective piping. But I think the standard "high viz" stuff that everyone wears is too ubiquitous nowadays to be fully effective. Sensory overload does happen.

[speights_bud]

Should Pass a law to make Gloves Compulsory, in a crash your hands are almost guaranteed to touch the road and it'd save ACC $$ from al them feckin scooter riders. should also pass over ankle boot law too

[speights_bud]

Thats a 2 inch strip 1 foot long in the old money.

Shit thats lucky, it'll only just fit on the underside of a boot

[DODO``]

About 5 mins later I saw a biker on a mid sized naked bike riding towards me with headlight on, guy had all the gear etc Thing is had he been wearing hi-viz or reflective gear, it wouldn't have made one bit of difference to me spotting him frankly.

believe you me I don't like hi-viz either but lets be correct here. person with hi-viz IS lot more visible than the ones in black. Especially at night. Not to mention brightly coloured helmets.

I try to wear one at night because i know the difference. if you cant tell the difference, have someone take photo or video you in other car / bike.
that would be the difference the world will see. but yeah, I think they look ugly as hell.

What I think is wrong is government forcing motorcyclist what to wear. There are other ways to educate motorists to get bikes more aware.

Its not like they are banning black cars because they are not as visible as yellow cars. I dont get why they are just being dicks to motorcyclists.

[Subike]

OMG
this argument has been going on for years
Hi vis verses non hi vis verses black verses colours verses all the gear verses only some gear.

How about you all just accept the responsibility that you are riding something that others often just dont see
and adjust your riding to suit that,
No amount of safety gear is going to stop the twat who is riding like a faggot believing his Hi Viss is a flag that all will see.

Treat each and every journey as one that you need 100% concentration 100% of the time.
At all times be aware of what is going on around you, and make sure you act in such a way that you do get seen by other drivers.
thats not hard to do and can be done inside the limits of the law.

[chasio]

OMG
this argument has been going on for years
Hi vis verses non hi vis verses black verses colours verses all the gear verses only some gear.

How about you all just accept the responsibility that you are riding something that others often just dont see
and adjust your riding to suit that,
No amount of safety gear is going to stop the twat who is riding like a faggot believing his Hi Viss is a flag that all will see.

Treat each and every journey as one that you need 100% concentration 100% of the time.
At all times be aware of what is going on around you, and make sure you act in such a way that you do get seen by other drivers.
thats not hard to do and can be done inside the limits of the law.

Agreed.

And the law as described in the OP is for reflective materials, not actually for the fluoro fabrics (orange, yellow, etc.) that many people would consider hi-viz.

[DODO``]

OMG
this argument has been going on for years
Hi vis verses non hi vis verses black verses colours verses all the gear verses only some gear.

How about you all just accept the responsibility that you are riding something that others often just dont see
and adjust your riding to suit that,
No amount of safety gear is going to stop the twat who is riding like a faggot believing his Hi Viss is a flag that all will see.

Treat each and every journey as one that you need 100% concentration 100% of the time.
At all times be aware of what is going on around you, and make sure you act in such a way that you do get seen by other drivers.
thats not hard to do and can be done inside the limits of the law.

+1

[Big Dave]

It's human evolution. The more people there are - the more people there are making stupid fuckin' rules.

[jonbuoy]

Won´t be long before clothing manufacturers incorporate it into the jackets, won´t look too bad if its done right. Don´t know why its not done already - it doesn´t have to look too nerdy.