Hi vis discussion thread (read post #1)

tomasrojo

More crossing flags.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/refugee-arrival-stories-are-too-happy-the-harm-of-french-immersion-and-who-gets-to-decide-who-s-a-feminist-1.3452586/what-keeps-walkers-safe-a-west-vancouver-crosswalk-gets-mocked-online-1.3454481

(HT @cosaingalway on Twitter)

RobertFoster

tomasrojo wrote: »

More crossing flags.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/refugee-arrival-stories-are-too-happy-the-harm-of-french-immersion-and-who-gets-to-decide-who-s-a-feminist-1.3452586/what-keeps-walkers-safe-a-west-vancouver-crosswalk-gets-mocked-online-1.3454481

(HT @cosaingalway on Twitter)

Is step 3 compulsory? Do you use the flag or your hand?

traprunner

What happens when all the flags are on the one side?

Leroy42

traprunner wrote: »

What happens when all the flags are on the one side?

Then you select the most disposable in the group, and impress on them the importance of the mission. Sure, you'd do it yourself in a heartbeat, if it wasn't that little Jimmy needed you to make the special delivery to his Mom/auntie/dog.

In TV land, this would be the guy in the red, or possibly the token black guy. More than likely this guy hasn't really done anything to this point and to be honest everyone else in the group is kinda wondering where he came from and what he was doing there anyway.

You'll tell him not to worry, you'll all be there to help him out, and the way it usually goes is that he'll make it across to get the flag, pick a few up and start making his way back across before letting the imminent hero status go to his head so he either turns back to get one last flag or focuses on the girl he always loved from afar but was always sure she would never go for a no-luck farm hand like him, but there she is, screaming his name. She not only knows who he is, she knows his name, she's screaming his name.

Trumpets start playing a fanfare to welcome back their hero and bright tv lights turn on as the waiting camera crew get ready to interview the new hero. Why are the camera crew on the road? And why are they coming towards you so fast? And don't those trumpets sound a lot like a truck horn?

They are all screaming your name now, all pointing at you. And pointing at the camera crew, which is really getting close now. They seem to be waving, almost frantically but you're sure it's just the excitement.

Still the trumpets, really loud now, and what's this new noise. A bit like guitar feedback, really loud guitar feedback. The camera lights seem to be flashing on and off now, everyone has stopped screaming your name and is now either pointing at the lights or covering their faces.

Wait a minute, that's not guitar feedback, it sounds more like, more like...screeching tyres! Sh1t its a truc......

With your last movement you throw the flags over to the remaining gang. After a very brief moment of sadness they collect the flags and cross the road safely, each of them tipping their hat to the fallen colleague, Black Guy Number 1!

tomasrojo

Sort of a round-up. Maybe nothing new to this thread, except for this extraordinary claim:

Flourescent clothing has long been the safety-conscious commuters’ choice, and it has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity with fashion-conscious road cyclists, too.

http://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/1016/does-fluoro-kit-make-you-safer

tomasrojo

RobertFoster wrote: »

Is step 3 compulsory? Do you use the flag or your hand?

It's quite abject, isn't it? "Thanks for not killing me! I know you could!"

RobertFoster

ThisRegard wrote: »

Was in the Phoenix Park today when a big group cycled by me, on the footpath, on bikes from the hire place.

They were all wearing bibs, but not exactly high vis but rather those orange types. Where do we stand on these, are they just gang colours?

I noticed a couple of dozen of these in a big group today in the park. The majority were on the path with a few riding contraflow on Wellington Rd. beside the path. That section is bad enough with the poor surface and cars parked half on the path, half on the grass, narrowing the road and blocking sight lines.

I wonder if the vests are mandatory when renting a bike?

tomasrojo wrote: »

It's quite abject, isn't it? "Thanks for not killing me! I know you could!"

It does come across as subservient. Maybe Canadian laws don't automatically give pedestrians right of way at crossings.

I suppose it could be seen as being polite, like thanking someone for not blocking a yellow box when they shouldn't be in it in the first place. Unless the Internet has lied to me, you don't need to tell Canadians to be polite.

tomasrojo

RobertFoster wrote: »

I suppose it could be seen as being polite, like thanking someone for not blocking a yellow box when they shouldn't be in it in the first place. Unless the Internet has lied to me, you don't need to tell Canadians to be polite.

Certainly nothing wrong with being polite. I often thank people with a small wave for letting me cross at some crossings. The authorities have no business codifying voluntary acts on a sign though. Maybe it's meant to be light-hearted, and they didn't feel they could put an emoticon on a street sign.

rollingscone

ThisRegard wrote: »

Was in the Phoenix Park today when a big group cycled by me, on the footpath, on bikes from the hire place.

They were all wearing bibs, but not exactly high vis but rather those orange types. Where do we stand on these, are they just gang colours?

We stand on you clearly being a dirty agent of #Bigcycling out to undermine the proven metaphysical safety of HiVis in an effort to further your sinister deviant agenda.

QED

tomasrojo

Here's a paper that actually does claim to find a benefit for "reflective clothing", by which I assume they mean fluorescent clothing with reflective stripes. I'm not paying $40+ dollars to find out for sure.

This analysis uses a generalized ordered logit model and a generalized additive model to estimate the effects of built environment factors on cyclist injury severity in automobile-involved bicycle crashes, as well as to accommodate possible spatial dependence among crash locations. The sample is drawn from the Seattle Department of Transportation bicycle collision profiles.

lower likelihood of injuries is observed for bicyclists wearing reflective clothing

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457515301184

(I assume hi-viz wearers are under-represented in collision reports relative to their frequency in the general cycling population. If that's the case, given how seldom people in the USA wear hi-viz, I suspect such people that do are very cautious types.)

ThisRegard

rollingscone wrote: »

We stand on you clearly being a dirty agent of #Bigcycling out to undermine the proven metaphysical safety of HiVis in an effort to further your sinister deviant agenda.

QED

Well I do have a Trek hidden away in the attic. Just wait until I launch my campaign to rehabilitate Lance. My Ridley was just a method of gaining Euronerds trust.

traprunner

Seattle Report wrote: »

lower likelihood of injuries is observed for bicyclists wearing reflective clothing

Sounds a bit like "you are wearing reflective clothing so I won't mow you down just as hard".

Pinch Flat

Is nothing sacred anymore?

https://www.obrienswine.ie/blacks-high-viz-dipa-50cl-bottle.html

CramCycle

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Is nothing sacred anymore?

https://www.obrienswine.ie/blacks-high-viz-dipa-50cl-bottle.html

I quite like Blacks range but 8.5% can't be conducive to safe cycling

ThisRegard

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Is nothing sacred anymore?

https://www.obrienswine.ie/blacks-high-viz-dipa-50cl-bottle.html

CramCycle wrote: »

I quite like Blacks range but 8.5% can't be conducive to safe cycling

I only had a bottle last week, the name never clicked with me until now. Very nice it is too.

RainyDay

Just came across theese products today - hi-vis with glow-in-the-dark phosphorescence

http://www.dualreflectives.com/shop/acatalog/dual_reflective_tech.html

tomasrojo

My Chariot child trailer has phosphorescent fabric at various locations. I don't really think it adds that much. Gave me a small surprise the first time I walked into an unlit room with the trailer in it though. But it's really not all that strong an effect, except in total darkness. Nothing as strong as a decent light anyway.

check_six

tomasrojo wrote: »

Nothing as strong as a decent light anyway.

That's not what a variety of halfassed campaigns would have me believe!

tomasrojo

check_six wrote: »

That's not what a variety of halfassed campaigns would have me believe!

Well, phosphorescence is a new front in the war to shame people wearing normal clothes.

Doctor Bob

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Is nothing sacred anymore?

https://www.obrienswine.ie/blacks-high-viz-dipa-50cl-bottle.html

Looks tasty. I always keep an eye out for new crafty beers. Surprised I haven't seen that one before. :pac:

Carawaystick

Westmeath CoCo recommending people using an off road greenway should use high visibility clothing...
http://media.wix.com/ugd/1cba1b_bf3b136a9c4e48cfa141e6a526858387.pdf

:rolleyes:

galwaycyclist

Carawaystick wrote: »

Westmeath CoCo recommending people using an off road greenway should use high visibility clothing...
http://media.wix.com/ugd/1cba1b_bf3b136a9c4e48cfa141e6a526858387.pdf

:rolleyes:

Since its the Royal Canal Greenway should cyclists not also be wearing buoyancy aids or life jackets?

-- I presume these would need to be under the hi-viz?

CramCycle

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Since its the Royal Canal Greenway should cyclists not also be wearing buoyancy aids or life jackets?

-- I presume these would need to be under the hi-viz?

Experience of many RSA Hi Vis wearers in Dublin is that it is obviously most appropriate to wear them under your backpack. I presume they would work the same for buoyancy aides.

ThisRegard

Has there ever been any research on the negative effects of wearing high-vis? Driving down a narrow enough road this morning, no footpads etc but with hedging and trees on each side, and with the sun behind me making everything bright and shiny, your typical Irish country road. I spotted movement which initially just looked like the trees and bushes blowing in the wind but as I got closer I realise it was a guy wearing high vis running towards me.

I've no doubt had he not been wearing any over his dark clothing I would have spotted him a lot earlier, and his safety clothing in fact made things more dangerous for him.

tomasrojo

The railroad workers wear orange for this reason (better contrast against a background of vegetation), I think. And the drivers are never colour-blind (strict hiring policy), so any downsides to orange don't apply.

Some hi-viz clothing combines orange, green and reflective stripes. In an act of gross negligence and recklessness, they omit a phosphorescent component.

Carawaystick

tomasrojo wrote: »

Some hi-viz clothing combines orange, green and reflective stripes.

Tell me some other company makes this but in a camouflage pattern....

galwaycyclist

ThisRegard wrote: »

Has there ever been any research on the negative effects of wearing high-vis? Driving down a narrow enough road this morning, no footpads etc but with hedging and trees on each side, and with the sun behind me making everything bright and shiny, your typical Irish country road. I spotted movement which initially just looked like the trees and bushes blowing in the wind but as I got closer I realise it was a guy wearing high vis running towards me.

I've no doubt had he not been wearing any over his dark clothing I would have spotted him a lot earlier, and his safety clothing in fact made things more dangerous for him.

The Americans did an experiment during the war with antisubmarine aircraft.

Instead of camouflage paint they covered the aircraft in spotlights. The theory being that from a distance if the background light levels in the sky were right then the plane would blend in.

I seem to recall it could be pretty effective if they came at the target from the right direction.

Edit google is my friend: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehudi_lights

tomasrojo

In honour of National Walking Day in the States:

Happy #NationalWalkingDay! Be sure to dress appropriately if you go outdoors today.

https://twitter.com/philabikes/status/717803859037577216

HT @cosaingalway on Twitter

buffalo

tomasrojo wrote: »

In honour of National Walking Day in the States:

I can't tell what's reality and what's satire anymore...

Pinch Flat

I coach our local GAA team at under-10. Apparently, when we meet for games, having an official club top on is not enough to identify me from the opposing teams manager (who is also in their own club top), so we've all been requested to identify ourselves in more prominent colours - you've guessed it, a hi-vis vest with our club name on the front and back. So far, I'm refusing as it's ridiculous......The madness goes on.......