Hi vis discussion thread (read post #1)

Cookie_Monster

Iwannahurl wrote: »

How to even begin unravelling that mindset?

In theory it's really simple. Have AGS actually out on the roads enforcing all the laws & educating people on what they are doing wrong rather than just generating money from speeding.

However in practice this will never happen and they also have the mindset that hi-vis is best, you should be in cycle lanes etc for some reason. There is also practically zero enforcement of rules for cars and other traffic so nobody cares at all what goes on on the roads once you're under the speed limit.

ThisRegard

Kids and high his are my new pet topic. Last week at the Halloween Spooky forest there was a bunch of them together.

This one I couldn't understand though. There was a group of kids, about 8 or 9, in Imaginosity, all wearing them. I know there's a box of them in the place around the construction zone that kids can put on, but it wasn't that.

They were just a group together all wearing them in an indoor kids museum/play area as when they walked down the steps to the cloak room, they all took them off, put their coats on, and put the high vis back on over their coats.

CramCycle

ThisRegard wrote: »

Kids and high his are my new pet topic. Last week at the Halloween Spooky forest there was a bunch of them together.

This one I couldn't understand though. There was a group of kids, about 8 or 9, in Imaginosity, all wearing them. I know there's a box of them in the place around the construction zone that kids can put on, but it wasn't that.

They were just a group together all wearing them in an indoor kids museum/play area as when they walked down the steps to the cloak room, they all took them off, put their coats on, and put the high vis back on over their coats.

School day out? Often schools will have a particular stand out piece of clothing to make their kids easily recognise able in places with a crowd. I think earlier I mentioned my daughters school has pink baseball caps and bumbags

ThisRegard

CramCycle wrote: »

School day out? Often schools will have a particular stand out piece of clothing to make their kids easily recognise able in places with a crowd. I think earlier I mentioned my daughters school has pink baseball caps and bumbags

School holidays this week. At least your daughters school is different with pink caps, but as I said before, any benefit is lost when you have several groups of kids around the same age all wearing the same freebie RSA high vis vests in the same place, such as the zoo. In fact it would make it more difficult to distinguish who's in your group.

CramCycle

Completely agree, which is why I was impressed when I heard about the caps.

tomasrojo

Just heard this on the radio.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/pedestrians-should-use-hi-vis-jackets-when-out-walking-656331.html

Pedestrians should wear hi-viz when out walking. Motorists don't get off scot-free though! They also have a duty to carry hi-viz jackets, to distribute to non-compliant pedestrians. See, we all share responsibility!

(Again, Mayo prominently mentioned in article.)

Chips Lovell

I totally agree with this. I find it very hard to spot pedestrians when I'm driving on the footpath.

CatFromHue

I'm guessing that they're talking about pedestrians out in rural areas, as it's someone from the Mayo Co. Co. quoted, where there may be no street lights or path so this makes alot of sense.

You do see pedestrians walking on the hard shoulder of some rural roads, though in fairness the ones I've seen do wear hi viz jackets.

Eamonnator

Motorists in France are obliged to carry a Hi-Viz jacket in their car, one for each occupant.

tomasrojo

How many of "the forty-two pedestrians that have been killed in road accidents since the start of the year" were killed on rural roads during times of poor visibility? Be nice to hear what the plans are for all the other scenarios.

CatFromHue

Whether people are dying from it or now it's a good idea if you're walking on the road, as there's no path, in poor visibility to wear one of these

tomasrojo

CatFromHue wrote: »

Whether people are dying from it or now it's a good idea if you're walking on the road, as there's no path, in poor visibility to wear one of these

I agree. The statement contains none of that detail, and also exhorts motorists to pester pedestrians, with no discrimination between daylight, night, type of roads, anything.

You might expect the "and as for motorists" part of the statement to say something about driving so that you're able to stop in time based on the amount of road visible ahead, but instead it's some bizarre scheme to act as informal hi-viz distributors for the RSA.

NeedMoreGears

My own experience of walking in rural Mayo was that pedestrians often carried lights.

Cantona's Collars

Eamonnator wrote: »

Motorists in France are obliged to carry a Hi-Viz jacket in their car, one for each occupant.

That's actually a very good idea,at least if you are unfortunate enough to break down or need to change a wheel at the roadside you'll be more visible to passing traffic.

On the topic of cyclists,it was a dank,wet & dark day today & I came across 6 in total with all wearing black & not one bit of hi viz.One did have a barely visible light on the back but it was covered in road splatter.
It's compulsory on a building site to wear hi viz to help drivers spot you,why not just have some common sense on the road to play your part in getting to your destination alive when on your bike?
I also passed several joggers & all bar one were easily seen wearing flourescent bibs or tops with reflective strips.All could be seen from a good distance.
When I'm on the road,I like to be seen by motorists,I'm not on a stealth mission & trying to blend in with the background.

CatFromHue

tomasrojo wrote: »

I agree. The statement contains none of that detail, and also exhorts motorists to pester pedestrians, with no discrimination between daylight, night, type of roads, anything.

You might expect the "and as for motorists" part of the statement to say something about driving so that you're able to stop in time based on the amount of road visible ahead, but instead it's some bizarre scheme to act as informal hi-viz distributors for the RSA.

You're reading way way way way too much into it.

tomasrojo

Common sense, you say (pre-edit)? Let's look up Noel Gibbons, originator of the informal hi-viz distribution network. He seems to be best known for this recent contribution to road safety:

Blessing the roads in Mayo (his brainchild, as I saw it described in the media)
http://www.thejournal.ie/roads-in-mayo-get-prayers-and-blessings-in-a-bid-to-reduce-road-deathsroads-in-mayo-get-prayers-and-blessings-in-a-bid-to-reduce-road-deaths-1420708-Apr2014/

He also achieved modest fame by taking the initiative and starting his very own number plates for bikes scheme.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055939378

And now he's encouraging motorists to pull up to lone pedestrians at night in sparsely populated areas and give them a lecture on road safety. Because people appreciate being spooked at night and then given a lecture by a random stranger.

RainyDay

zerks wrote: »

On the topic of cyclists,it was a dank,wet & dark day today & I came across 6 in total with all wearing black & not one bit of hi viz.One did have a barely visible light on the back but it was covered in road splatter.
It's compulsory on a building site to wear hi viz to help drivers spot you,why not just have some common sense on the road to play your part in getting to your destination alive when on your bike?

What colour is the car you used to pass all these dark cyclists and bright joggers?

snailsong

tomasrojo wrote: »

Common sense, you say (pre-edit)? Let's look up Noel Gibbons, originator of the informal hi-viz distribution network. He seems to be best known for this recent contribution to road safety:

Blessing the roads in Mayo (his brainchild, as I saw it described in the media)
http://www.thejournal.ie/roads-in-mayo-get-prayers-and-blessings-in-a-bid-to-reduce-road-deathsroads-in-mayo-get-prayers-and-blessings-in-a-bid-to-reduce-road-deaths-1420708-Apr2014/

He also achieved modest fame by taking the initiative and starting his very own number plates for bikes scheme.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055939378

And now he's encouraging motorists to pull up to lone pedestrians at night in sparsely populated areas and give them a lecture on road safety. Because people appreciate being spooked at night and then given a lecture by a random stranger.

I know this man quite well and I think you may have a misconception as to his motives.

The blessing of roads was not his initiative, it goes on in lots of places. He used the opportunity to draw attention to road safety.

The number plates on kids bikes was another initiative to emphasise the fact that bikes are part of road traffic and need to be treated as such. It was ultimately a publicity stunt, he wouldnt advocate compulsory plates.

As road safety officer it's his job to raise awareness of road safety issues.

For the record, Noel is a keen cyclist, runner and triathlete. He is a member of a cycling club and has won a fair few half marathons, adventure races and duathlon. I once beat him in a TT but I think he had a mechanical.

He was involved in the RSA tv ad encouraging motorists to respect cyclists, it was filmed in Mayo.

There's lots of signs around Mayo asking motorists for give 1.5 metres to cyclists, his iniatative.

It's true he's very keen on hi vis but I'm just giving a bit of perspective.

Eamonnator

RainyDay wrote: »

What colour is the car you used to pass all these dark cyclists and bright joggers?

When was the last time, you saw a Dyno-Rod van, involved in a collision?

CatFromHue

tomasrojo wrote: »

And now he's encouraging motorists to pull up to lone pedestrians at night in sparsely populated areas and give them a lecture on road safety. Because people appreciate being spooked at night and then given a lecture by a random stranger.

"Also if they have a spare one and they do meet a pedestrian that doesn't have one, to do a good deed and give them a hi-vis jacket."

Again, you're reading way way way way too much into it.

tomasrojo

CatFromHue wrote: »

Again, you're reading way way way way too much into it.

Actually, with some allowance for comic exaggeration, I'm following your lead. You said that his comments were implicitly restricted to poorly lit rural roads with no footpath. Sort of reductio ad absurdum. Or, as you might put it, reading way way way way too much into it to highlight how poorly thought through this whole wheeze actually is.

snailsong, I'm not judging the content of his character, just the bizarre content of his public pronouncements.

CatFromHue

He's an officer of Mayo Co. Co. so it's not a huge jump of the imagination to believe he's talking about Mayo where there are alot or poorly lit rural roads.

tomasrojo

I think you're reading way way way way too little into what I've written.

CatFromHue

From now on I'm going to read little of what you write

tomasrojo

By which I mean (as that sounded rather more sarky than I meant) I actually am going with your assumption that he's referring to rural roads at night. I still don't see how it makes sense to have ordinary people, rather than, say, police, bestowing hiviz jackets out of car windows to people minding their own business.

Essentially, this is a brainfart of some description that wafted straight across the national airwaves because a road safety "expert" said it.

Beasty

CatFromHue wrote: »

From now on I'm going to read little of what you write

If you have a problem with a post or poster report the post and leave the mods to deal with it as they see fit. Comments like this are attacking the poster and off-topic.

Any questiosns, PM me - do not respond in thread

Now can we move the discussion on and leave this particular aspect of the topic there

ezra_pound

The nine o clock news piece on road deaths finished off with a comment about giving out hi viz to those without. I thought I misheard but...

RainyDay

Eamonnator wrote: »

When was the last time, you saw a Dyno-Rod van, involved in a collision?

Do they have some kind of magic immunity? If so, it's not working too well;

http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/4034371.M40_crash_causing_delays_for_commuters/

http://www.newsnorthwales.co.uk/news/123794/mum-pays-tribute-to-cymau-man-killed-in-car-crash.aspx

CramCycle

RainyDay wrote: »

Do they have some kind of magic immunity? If so, it's not working too well;

http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/4034371.M40_crash_causing_delays_for_commuters/

http://www.newsnorthwales.co.uk/news/123794/mum-pays-tribute-to-cymau-man-killed-in-car-crash.aspx

MOD VOICE: As asked, let's leave it there.

Cantona's Collars

RainyDay wrote: »

What colour is the car you used to pass all these dark cyclists and bright joggers?

Re-read my post,perhaps the line about me wanting to be more visible to motorists wasn't hi-viz enough for you to see,maybe you missed the suggestion that I cycle-you do know it's not unusual for people who cycle to actually drive cars too.No need to try to be smart about it.