Hi vis discussion thread (read post #1)

zell12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122813377#Comment_122813377

Jane Humphries is the head of the RPU

Markcheese

Ok - the Gardai ,thanks

Pedestrians wear high Viz ,

Motorists slow down , and drive to conditions,

07Lapierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122813332#Comment_122813332

its good advise. Although it assumes that motorist are considerate and would dip their lights once they see a pedestrian ahead. Toptip: if walking at night and a car approaching you does NOT dip their lights..get ready to jump into the ditch as the driver is probably distracted by their phone!

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122813332#Comment_122813332

Was there any reminders for owners of black, grey, silver, navy cars to put hiviz on their cars?

https://www.rd.com/article/car-color-accidents-risk/

Cookie_Monster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122714862#Comment_122714862

I mean this is clearly true. Why else would all emergency vehicle be covered in Battenburg high vis stickers? If lights alone were sufficient why would they bother?

ednwireland

safest and most dangerous car colours

https://www.autolist.com/guides/safest-car-color

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122816183#Comment_122816183

Can't wait for the new RSA to be giving out hiviz sticky panels to brighten up all those black and navy cars.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/286077577724?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=FsSmVrEWT8S&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=e5WR9VUHT_S&var=588181027776&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

zell12

UK content

Conservative councillor wades into cyclist hi-vis clothing discussion with "reprehensible" rant... says "Lycra louts" who ride in roads instead of cycle lanes "suffer the consequences"

“I wear bright colours, lights, and reflective bags – but drivers still close pass me every day”: Cyclists respond to hi-vis calls by claiming drivers “choose not to see” them, but others ask “What’s the problem with close passes?”

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122820312#Comment_122820312

It's funny, I've become a much milder cyclist over the past 5/ 6 years. I just couldn't be arsed engaging with d!*kheads. The one thing that still boils my p!ss is the constant reminder that when it comes to hi-viz and cycle lanes, far too many Gardai haven't a notion. I can just about deal with Joe Bloggs in his VW Golf telling me to wear hi-viz, but the idea that Gardai would be at it too…

As a white, straight, male from a wealthy Western country I've had pretty much zero reason in my life to feel victimised for just existing and to have to fear how people will react to me for just going about my day… but with hi-viz cycling I may just have tasted a tiny (albeit incomparable) dose of what so many people feel on a daily basis. It's a bit s**t. I'm a fairly zen cyclist on the road 95% of the time… but I can see myself having an episode some day over hi-viz.

Seth Brundle

Eamon O'Cuiv uses one of his last Dáil moments to ask the government to make high-viz mandatory for vulnerable road users…

https://irishcycle.com/2024/11/10/td-uses-dail-time-to-call-for-mandatory-high-vis-for-people-cycling-and-for-walking-where-theres-no-footpaths/

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122827645#Comment_122827645

F**king dope. It's absolutely mad how a non-issue can snowball and become a talking point, while actual issues are completely ignored. Humans must have the highest capacity of any living animal to range from incredible intelligence to incredible stupidity.

Markcheese

No, it's fair enough, mandatory hi-viz for pedestrians on rural roads -

B if it's a "hi-viz road" then the max speed would have to be 40kph on a low visabilty area, and 50/ 60 everywhere else , plus a budget for actual rural road policing, no one bothers checking speed on country roads ,

Possibly the introduction of a charge of dangerous driving for being 10 kph over the limit .

RobertFoster

Ah shure jaysus how am I meant to keep an eye on the speedo and look out for pedestrians at the same time? Plus cars weren't designed to drive that slowly, it'll stall.

Spoiler Warning

🤪

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122833277#Comment_122833277

No, it's not fair enough. It's ill conceived nonsense. Will it possibly make someone more visible in some circumstances? Yes. In all circumstances? No. Is it the best way of ensuring visibility? No. Are the same visibility standards applied to motor vehicles? No. Is it likely to further entrench the increasingly-pedalled idea that pedestrians really shouldn't be on the road and that the only sensible thing to do is get in a car? Yes. So Eamon can take his request with him on the way out the door.

Large bottle small glass

I've twice in the last week met a solo cyclist (two different people), on the R672 at night without lights or hi visibility clothing.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/abHMKe6tenjx8Pvi7

https://maps.app.goo.gl/x4KeQx6Gxm1MFj8DA

Both incidents occurred during good driving conditions; no rainfall or fog and I didn't have to deal with oncoming vehicles.

In those conditions, with properly adjusted lights seeing cyclists was trivial. Loads of time to adjust speed, steer around them etc.

The key point with regard to hi vis is motorists in general don't know or don't want to adjust their driving to account for

*poor visibility due to rain/fog

*reduced sightlines due to driving with dipped lights

The push for hi vis is to push responsibility onto vulnerable road users to allow the driver to continue to drive in an inappropriate manner. Better again if they just stay off the road

I'd imagine in time hazard/vulnerable road user detection systems in cars will make a bigger improvement in VRU safety than anything else.

I'd be all behind a push for lights ( to a specified standard) at night for all VRU in unlit areas, as they are a legal requirement for cyclists for decades and they are super effective.

Gardai checking for lights on a bicycle was a very common feature of rural life in the early years of the State and beyond the post WW2 period

JMcL

I'd be all behind a push for lights ( to a specified standard) at night for all VRU in unlit areas, as they are a legal requirement for cyclists for decades and they are super effective.

This for sure. The German standard seems to me to make sense - as somebody said in another thread Germans sometime like making rules for the sake of it, but the beam shape mandated etc. would seem to be to all road users benefit. It'd be a nightmare to police, but if conforming lights were subject to 0% VAT that might drive uptake (always assuming the rush to fill the void with bumped up prices that seem to be endemic in this country can be avoided)

zell12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122827645#Comment_122827645

This was actually a month ago on 03 October

Markcheese

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122833877#Comment_122833877

You're right in terms of visibility - it makes a huge difference, a couple of decent bike lights are even better ,

But I also get that focusing on just hi-viz is a bit of victim blaming , people ( and I'm one ) driving too fast for the conditions, a pedestrian or a cyclist on the road isn't surprising or a factor that the motorists couldn't expect - and hi-viz/reflective will do little good at all on a blind bend , especially if theres traffic coming from both sides

But I stand by hi-viz jacket being very effective at making yourself seen ..

07Lapierre

if we did apply German standards to bicycle lights, my lights would be illegal! (Too bright).

Correct positioning of lights is also an issue as a bright light pointing in the wrong direction can blind others.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122834121#Comment_122834121

Excellent idea. I was nearly blinded (may be a slight exaggeration) by a cyclist last night while waiting for my bus. I can guarantee that she was oblivious to the fact. I was called out on blinding LED lights years ago by a runner I was approaching… was the first time I ever had to consider it and I've been conscious of it ever since. But god knows the world has enough people minding everyone else's business as it is so I'd be extremely reluctant to say it to someone myself.

Politicians tripping over themselves to mandate hi viz (which would be impossible to police or enforce in any event) yet no interest in putting a German style framework in place around lights.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122834885#Comment_122834885

I think the German standards address the beam issue too? It's not simply a case of max. brightness/ lumen/ lux whatever the correct term is (opens can of worms.. runs away).

But it would at least make lights part of the conversation. I can't remember the last time a politician proposed anything progressive in that area, other than "there's loads of cyclists with no lights" as a prelude to "make hiviz compulsory".

The lighting standards for modern vehicles also needs to be seriously looked at, and I say that as a driver and pedestrian more so than a cyclist.

Stark

I'm torn myself on the blinding front LED thing. I know my light is extremely bright and probably blinding. But the number of near misses I've had relying just on the fairly decent front light that came with my bike (I have the fully equipped version of the Trek FX) has just made cycling without the extra super bright LED feel too sketchy on dark evenings. I try to compromise by turning it off if I notice oncoming pedestrians and turning it on when I'm approaching junctions that I know I are sketchy.

tomasrojo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122835151#Comment_122835151

I don't have extremely bright lights on any of the bikes (though they're pretty bright; 10+ lux, which meets German standards, but very weak sauce by the standards of other lights I've seen).

However, and veterans here will already be rolling their eyes, I do have small wrist lights. Being able to wave lights around a bit gets attention, and you can avoid attracting attention (the sort that leads to prank passes, punishment passes, stuff thrown out windows) when you aren't near bad junctions, side roads with a waiting vehicle, or whatever.

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122834979#Comment_122834979

Agree re politicans saying anything progressive - even from supporters of cycling in the Daíl. Notice though that the "make HiViz compulsory" statements from the usuals - nobody ever says that a HI-VIZ ever should come with a bike in the bike shop when ya buy it. It's a "do something" something but off loads responsibility on the end user. Would prefer myself all regular NEW bikes to have standard hub dynamo lights installed

traco

Coming through Galway Monday evening around 1800 the amount of cyclists with no lights was crazy. Hi viz would have made F all difference in the fog, perhaps reflective might have helped but lights should be a no brainer. Really there is no excuse as they are in Lidl / Aldi every so often and you can get cheap ones on amazon. I've two red on the rear of the bike. One on the rack on the other up the seatpost and flashing.

BTW on the way down around 1500 the amount of cars on the motorway in fog with no lights on was bonkers considering the very poor visibility in the fog. I thought it summed up the typical self absorbed motorist, clueless as the dash was lit up as in all modern cars, happily listening to a podcast or something and blindly following what ever was in front. Oblivious to faster traffic approaching from the rear.

Something needs to change with driver education and thats coming form someone that drives a lot and also commutes by bike when I can a few days a week. Hi viz won't overcome incompetence.

JMcL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122835236#Comment_122835236

I haven't seen them in a while and indeed am commuting less in the dark these days, but Lidl/Aldi were regularly doing reflective velcro bands with red LEDs you could use around your ankle, wrist, or probably even just wrapped around the bike. I always thought the fact they moved with pedalling was a useful bit of extra visibility

zell12

Radio1 Drivetime at 17:21 today discussing the frigid temperatures and transport, RSA person urged pedestrians and cyclists to wear hi-vis

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123030522#Comment_123030522

The lesser spotted insulating hiviz….

ARX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122834885#Comment_122834885

You can get very bright German-standard lights:

Lupine Lighting Systems - Bike lights • Road bike lights • SL AX 2023

Lupine SL AX vs AX Gen 2 (2023) - Activate Engl. Subtitles!!!!

MojoMaker

I bought a set of very neat & compact Trek-branded lights a few months ago after a recommendation on here. They are excellent and so far pretty long-lasting from a charge, and they decline gracefully rather than just jumping from green to red and then off.

A ton well spent in my view.

zell12

Sligo FG Cllr Dara Mulvey said hi-visibility clothing must become compulsory for those walking or cycling on public roads. “During the autumn and winter months ..people walking late at night and early in the morning. Unfortunately, some people are going out and refuse to wear hi-vis clothing or even a flashlight"

https://www.westernpeople.ie/news/calls-to-make-hi-vis-clothing-mandatory-for-pedestrians-and-cyclists_arid-47783.html