POLITE - Hi-Vis Vest
Discussion
Crossflow Kid said:
My hazard making and decision making capabilities are spot on thanks.
You clearly don't understand the science of visual communication in a high threat environment.
Anything that adds unnecessarily to a thought process can be a causal factor in human error. If you think your brain processes everything the same way, and allocates the same prioroty to everything you see or hear then you're very, very wrong and if you can't understand that I'd say you're the one with substandard skills.
Adverts on buses, hi vis on couriers......more easily processed (ie. Dismissed without further regard) as they appear in a scenario where they're expected to appear....bus adverts on the side of a bus, and a courier hi vi atop a 250,000 mile burgundy Deauville with a bungeed top box.
What confuses the brain is when one part of information (a hi viz deliberately designed to mislead and look like something else) conflicts with another (not the right bike, incorrect clothing etc).
I can cope with it quite easily, I'd just rather these knobs didn't waste my concentration.
You’re right but missing a one key point. Many (mostly car) drivers process the expected information so quickly that, in the case of bikes, they often don’t even see that it’s there. That’s why we have so many SMIDSY type accidents.You clearly don't understand the science of visual communication in a high threat environment.
Anything that adds unnecessarily to a thought process can be a causal factor in human error. If you think your brain processes everything the same way, and allocates the same prioroty to everything you see or hear then you're very, very wrong and if you can't understand that I'd say you're the one with substandard skills.
Adverts on buses, hi vis on couriers......more easily processed (ie. Dismissed without further regard) as they appear in a scenario where they're expected to appear....bus adverts on the side of a bus, and a courier hi vi atop a 250,000 mile burgundy Deauville with a bungeed top box.
What confuses the brain is when one part of information (a hi viz deliberately designed to mislead and look like something else) conflicts with another (not the right bike, incorrect clothing etc).
I can cope with it quite easily, I'd just rather these knobs didn't waste my concentration.
The idea behind such “enhanced” high vis is to do exactly what you say and MAKE drivers do a double take. It’s selfish on the part of the wearer as it causes driver to focus on them, potentially at a cost to others, but survival is a selfish act which none of us need to apologise for.
My tuppence worth as a car driver...
Last week I was sitting in traffic and a biker filtered through wearing one of these POLITE vests. I couldn't bring myself to give a f
k either way.
Speaking solely as a car driver, yes, hi-viz vests and coats make you more visible. But as someone said before on this thread, the biker's position on the road makes a much bigger difference than anything else. You could be hi-vized from head to toe, but if you choose to sit in somebody's blind spot it won't make a jot of difference. Place yourself where you can easily be seen, however, and even if you were dressed like a ninja then you can still be easily spotted.
I've often thought it would be an idea if the law was changed so bikes had to have yellow headlights (similar to some cars in Europe). This way when you look in your mirrors, a bike would be easily identifiable amongst the sea of headlights, especially on the dark winter morning/evening rush. Obviously this wouldn't work for those drivers who think mirrors are there purely for decoration.
As an aside to the POLITE/POLICE hi-viz debate, last year I was waiting at a set of red lights near Lakeside in Essex. Land Rover Freelander at the front of the queue, gold BMW bike behind him and another car between me and the bike. Now, the guy on the bike was wearing a sty faded hi-viz jacket with POLICE (not POLITE) across the back. It looked like he'd picked the thing up from a boot sale to scare drivers with. I pointed out to Mrs Macadoodle what a bellend he was for wearing the jacket. It turns out the bellend was in fact the driver of the Freelander who decided to trickle through the lights about five seconds before they turned green. Suddenly the bike lights up like Christmas and the knob Freelander driver gets the pointy pull-over finger from the very real copper on the unmarked bike 
Essex has quite a few unmarked bikes, as I've since seen several others around (all BMWs) nabbing unsuspecting drivers.
Last week I was sitting in traffic and a biker filtered through wearing one of these POLITE vests. I couldn't bring myself to give a f
k either way. Speaking solely as a car driver, yes, hi-viz vests and coats make you more visible. But as someone said before on this thread, the biker's position on the road makes a much bigger difference than anything else. You could be hi-vized from head to toe, but if you choose to sit in somebody's blind spot it won't make a jot of difference. Place yourself where you can easily be seen, however, and even if you were dressed like a ninja then you can still be easily spotted.
I've often thought it would be an idea if the law was changed so bikes had to have yellow headlights (similar to some cars in Europe). This way when you look in your mirrors, a bike would be easily identifiable amongst the sea of headlights, especially on the dark winter morning/evening rush. Obviously this wouldn't work for those drivers who think mirrors are there purely for decoration.
As an aside to the POLITE/POLICE hi-viz debate, last year I was waiting at a set of red lights near Lakeside in Essex. Land Rover Freelander at the front of the queue, gold BMW bike behind him and another car between me and the bike. Now, the guy on the bike was wearing a s
ty faded hi-viz jacket with POLICE (not POLITE) across the back. It looked like he'd picked the thing up from a boot sale to scare drivers with. I pointed out to Mrs Macadoodle what a bellend he was for wearing the jacket. It turns out the bellend was in fact the driver of the Freelander who decided to trickle through the lights about five seconds before they turned green. Suddenly the bike lights up like Christmas and the knob Freelander driver gets the pointy pull-over finger from the very real copper on the unmarked bike Essex has quite a few unmarked bikes, as I've since seen several others around (all BMWs) nabbing unsuspecting drivers.
bass gt3 said:
Crossflow Kid said:
Yeah but as dap says, it distracts and that's the worst way of drawing attention. It's also only any good when viewed from behind, and most bike collisions are side impacts at junctions.
Just sayin' like
But honestly, how does it distract??? Just sayin' like
it's like saying road signs distract, or adverts on buses, or any number of other pieces of information you need to handle during the process of driving/riding.
To say that a Hi Vi with something on the back will draw attention which is a detriment to your driving abilities says more about the complainee's ability than anything else.
I really couldn't care either way, but to say it's a distraction, when in fact it was noticed enough to raise someone's ire seems an admission of crapness.
Hand in your Man Cards at the door please....
I can't see how it distracts any more than any other signage on the road tbh.
..Its like the
'POLITE NOTICE' NO PARKING signs.
Just say 'no parking' - its accepted as that so there's no need to slap 'POLITE' on in big blue letters to somehow make it look like its endorsed by BiB who of course have nothing whatsoever to do with it. It sometimes adds legitimacy to an otherwise illegally placed sign.
I think these people are on some sort of power trip.
'POLITE NOTICE' NO PARKING signs.
Just say 'no parking' - its accepted as that so there's no need to slap 'POLITE' on in big blue letters to somehow make it look like its endorsed by BiB who of course have nothing whatsoever to do with it. It sometimes adds legitimacy to an otherwise illegally placed sign.
I think these people are on some sort of power trip.
SilverSixer said:
What gets me is that the last thing someone wearing one of these things is being is polite. It is not polite behaviour in the slightest. I'll be the judge of your level of politeness, thanks very much.
It's not saying that the rider wearing it is or isn't polite. It's politely asking other road users to "think bike".black-k1 said:
SilverSixer said:
What gets me is that the last thing someone wearing one of these things is being is polite. It is not polite behaviour in the slightest. I'll be the judge of your level of politeness, thanks very much.
It's not saying that the rider wearing it is or isn't polite. It's politely asking other road users to "think bike".Macadoodle said:
I've often thought it would be an idea if the law was changed so bikes had to have yellow headlights (similar to some cars in Europe). This way when you look in your mirrors, a bike would be easily identifiable amongst the sea of headlights, especially on the dark winter morning/evening rush. Obviously this wouldn't work for those drivers who think mirrors are there purely for decoration.
No thanks. Bike lights are often crap enough anyway - think of a car with poor lights & then take a bulb out...Hooli said:
Macadoodle said:
I've often thought it would be an idea if the law was changed so bikes had to have yellow headlights (similar to some cars in Europe). This way when you look in your mirrors, a bike would be easily identifiable amongst the sea of headlights, especially on the dark winter morning/evening rush. Obviously this wouldn't work for those drivers who think mirrors are there purely for decoration.
No thanks. Bike lights are often crap enough anyway - think of a car with poor lights & then take a bulb out...Macadoodle said:
Hooli said:
Macadoodle said:
I've often thought it would be an idea if the law was changed so bikes had to have yellow headlights (similar to some cars in Europe). This way when you look in your mirrors, a bike would be easily identifiable amongst the sea of headlights, especially on the dark winter morning/evening rush. Obviously this wouldn't work for those drivers who think mirrors are there purely for decoration.
No thanks. Bike lights are often crap enough anyway - think of a car with poor lights & then take a bulb out...
Holy thread revival....
Just to add fuel to the embers, I got passed by a guy on a white bike with a camera on his lid and a hi viz vest made to look exactly like the police (right down to the font) but the word Polite. Observations from a car driving non-biking, sometimes cycling occasional pedestrian:
1) I saw him coming (motorway) in my mirrors in traffic and moved within my lane to make way for him filtering - as I always do for bikers.
2)His stupid fking vest is a distraction, it wasn't visible until he passed and caught my attention once he'd gone by (it's a natural reaction to wonder what kind of asshole impersonates a policeman) and I drifted back to the middle of my lane only to nearly take out the rider behind who wasn't wearing a ttvest.
3) I then watched how this dhead took the rest of the motorway junction we all exited at. Mr Polite was not polite. He was the worst kind of lane switching, head shaking horses-ass.
4) Polite vests are for knobs. Don't wear one - you'll lose goodwill from drivers who normally give every courtesy to bikers.
Just to add fuel to the embers, I got passed by a guy on a white bike with a camera on his lid and a hi viz vest made to look exactly like the police (right down to the font) but the word Polite. Observations from a car driving non-biking, sometimes cycling occasional pedestrian:
1) I saw him coming (motorway) in my mirrors in traffic and moved within my lane to make way for him filtering - as I always do for bikers.
2)His stupid f
king vest is a distraction, it wasn't visible until he passed and caught my attention once he'd gone by (it's a natural reaction to wonder what kind of asshole impersonates a policeman) and I drifted back to the middle of my lane only to nearly take out the rider behind who wasn't wearing a ttvest.3) I then watched how this d
head took the rest of the motorway junction we all exited at. Mr Polite was not polite. He was the worst kind of lane switching, head shaking horses-ass.4) Polite vests are for knobs. Don't wear one - you'll lose goodwill from drivers who normally give every courtesy to bikers.
A few weeks ago on my way home from work, I was waiting at some traffic lights next to Russell Square. A chap on a bicycle is also waiting at the lights in full on POLITE-wear... He had taken it about as far as you could go; the jacket w/ blue and white hatching, the same hatching on his shorts, also on his bike and a POLITE sticker on his helmet (which of course had a camera attached to it).
Naturally the first thing I could think of was how much of a tt do you really have to be to put all of that on for your commute to/from work or where ever he was going/come from. However, to give him his dues he was waiting at a red light on a bicycle.
While we were waiting for the lights an old lady approached Mr POLITE and started to explain that she had just witnessed a crime! Thankfully the chump was honest and had to rather embarrassingly (for him) explain that he wasn't actually a police officer. It got me thinking though... If you have gone to the extent where a member of the public genuinely believes you to be a police officer, there must be some form of legal action that needs to be taken.
Naturally the first thing I could think of was how much of a t
t do you really have to be to put all of that on for your commute to/from work or where ever he was going/come from. However, to give him his dues he was waiting at a red light on a bicycle.While we were waiting for the lights an old lady approached Mr POLITE and started to explain that she had just witnessed a crime! Thankfully the chump was honest and had to rather embarrassingly (for him) explain that he wasn't actually a police officer. It got me thinking though... If you have gone to the extent where a member of the public genuinely believes you to be a police officer, there must be some form of legal action that needs to be taken.
shielsy said:
It got me thinking though... If you have gone to the extent where a member of the public genuinely believes you to be a police officer, there must be some form of legal action that needs to be taken.
Just because someone can't read correctly doesn't warrant legal action does it?I think ACPO have had a word with the manufacturer of these and told them to redesign the vest.
fergus said:
Just because someone can't read correctly doesn't warrant legal action does it?
Actually it does... There are many aspects of a police officers uniform that make him/her recognisable, even at a distance where you may not be able to read the word police. It seems that the folk who wear these garments are probably the type of pedantic fkers who would enjoy saying "look it says POLITE, not POLICE, can't you read?"... along the same lines as your post really.The fact is said f
kers are wearing these vests for a very specific reason... to look like a police officer. Which depending on how its executed, is a criminal offence. Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff