garagegirl

I'm a verbal abuse magnet (I'm a four eyed ginger, I can't win) I can handle the abuse in small doses, but I'm a bit sensitive, and my skin's not that thick, even to the moronic barbs of the common teenager.

garagegirl

NO!!!! I'm only in my 30's! I can only imagine how lame I'm going to be in my 40's.

Fredmertz51

In order to hit you with a thrown beer bottle, first they must see you in time to aim.

jputnam

Conspicuity and Bicycle Crashes

Of 5653 eligible riders, 2469 (44%) completed the study questionnaire. Mean age was 44 years, 73% were male, and the average number of kilometers cycled per week in the preceding 12 months was 130. The annual incidence of crashes leading to injury that disrupted usual daily activities for at least 24 h was 0.5 per cyclist/year. About one-third of these crashes resulted in presentation to a health professional. The mean number of days absent from work attributable to bicycle crashes was 0.39 per cyclist/year. After adjustment for potential confounders and exposure (kilometers cycled per year), the rate of days off work from bicycle crash injury was substantially lower among riders who reported always wearing fluorescent colors (multivariate incidence rate ratio 0.23, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.59).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18245309

Retro Grouch 

So that would be roughly half the incidence (0.23 vs 0.5)?

Jeff Wills

That requires a psychopathic mindset. If they're going to try to bounce a beer bottle off your noggin, they're just as likely to crowd you off the road or honk the horn as they go by.

Thankfully, there's far fewer psychopaths than "ordinary" drivers. Ordinary drivers can still be surprised... so you have to avoid surprising them. You do this by riding consistently, staying visible, and giving them the best chance to avoid you. Leave the immature behavior to the drivers- you only make matters worse by antagonizing them.

thespacecowboy

I didn't see the value of wearing one, until I saw someone else wearing one when I was driving and realized how well I could see them. And I went out and bought one right away, especially for dull mornings and dusk. They really do make a big difference.

thespacecowboy

I've also read a number of articles similarly about wearing helmets versus not. I'm not going to reignite that one, but some of the research suggests the more protected the rider the more they get an "I'm invisible" feeling, taking more risks. Same can be said for car drivers as cars themselves have gotten more safe, but arguably driving habits have gotten worse.

Some of the research on football helmets is equally interesting.

Unfortunately, most research is inconclusive at best and contradictory at worse.

Standalone 

Yeah, I mean, Spinal Tap just came out with an album titled "None More Hi-Vis."

It's a trend.

Surrealdeal

Speaking for myself, I don't wear a helmet because it is "trendy" and feel the same way towards hi-viz. Who cares if it is a trend or not. Hi-viz clothing is a tool to be used in the saving of your own bacon.

powerhouse

As Surrealdeal aptly stated, "Hi-vis clothing is a tool to be used in the saving of your own bacon". While wearing it might be a continuing trend, I couldn't agree more. For example, I was recently walking a short distance not far from my home. Because the traffic in that area is heavy, I wore my hi-vis jacket as a measure of extra visibility. While making my way along, most motorists seemed to notice me and slowed if they didn't stop as I crossed various streets. It beats being turned into strawberry jam by far.

Bianchigirll 

in Europe it seems almost anyone working near a vehicle or airplane wears a HiVis yellow with reflective. I also see alot more towtruck drivers, garbage men and others wearing it here. as truckdriver I go lots of places that now require it on their property.

Keith99

Early on I decided I want the guy that hits me to have to claim he was blinded, not that he didn't see me.

Keith99

Bolding mine. Sometimes spelling does count. Invincible not invisible.

Machka 

Exactly what I mentioned back on the first page. It's the same here in Australia. If you're a tradie, you wear hivis clothing. And there's quite a large selection of clothing to choose from.