Still too many people without High Viz

JennyConnor said:
I wouldn't waste your time Clare. She's obviously a troll poster who likes the drama and won't listen to anyone with simple advise. People like her should not be allowed out on a horse.
Click to expand...

All she's doing is disagreeing with you she not trying to change your behaviour , I don't think she's a troll someone who won't take the view of the majority is not always a troll.
You nothing about PT apart from the fact that sometimes she wears HIviz and sometimes she does not and she once lent one of her larger than average kids a hat.
Not a lot to judge her on and to make a sweeping statement that she should not be allowed out.
There is no legal requirement to wear hi viz I therefore support people's right to choose.
 
Just as a thought, if the whole world wears Hi Viz clothing as standard will everyone become desensitized to it and start to look "through" it?

What are your thoughts on that please?
 
Iv never worn Hi Vis in the 10 years iv been riding and I ride on roads about 3 times a week, my horse is grey, pretty much white, and I usually wore a bright pink or blue jacket.
Even though I have been guilty of riding a bay horse while wearing dark clothes, none of the roads are covered in trees to camoflague me in though, its all big green fields behind me.
Im not riding at the moment but when I do I think il get a hi vis jacket as I am getting worried as I get older.

Saying that Iv never seen a horse rider wear one or a cylist for that matter in my area, the walkers do however wear them often enough
 
Suelin said:
Just as a thought, if the whole world wears Hi Viz clothing as standard will everyone become desensitized to it and start to look "through" it?

What are your thoughts on that please?
Click to expand...

That's an interesting thought but you would think it would still work even if all wore it as if say the drivers have come into the dark going to fast to adjust for the situation, or if coming a tad too fast round a corner will get a tiny bit more warning that you are there, it should not matter if everyone wears it .
 
Picture this, rider out with no hi viz on beautiful day, car driver may have 3 seconds notice to avoid, break or plough straight through them. Then exact same rider in same stretch of road same beautiful day but they are wearing a hi viz vest, car driver now has 10 seconds to either brake, avoid or plough through them. Which do you think offers the best chance to horse and rider ? It's not about seeing or not seeing, it's about seeing in time to do something about it.
 
weebarney said:
Picture this, rider out with no hi viz on beautiful day, car driver may have 3 seconds notice to avoid, break or plough straight through them. Then exact same rider in same stretch of road same beautiful day but they are wearing a hi viz vest, car driver now has 10 seconds to either brake, avoid or plough through them. Which do you think offers the best chance to horse and rider ? It's not about seeing or not seeing, it's about seeing in time to do something about it.
Click to expand...

Where do you get your time figures from ?
 
Good lord, who rattled some of your cages - so much uncalled for rudeness, namecalling and general childishness! (Not to mention the plucking of facts from thin air!)

pennyturner said:
Is the rudeness of many posters on this thread normal, or related to the topic?

For the record:
Hi Viz has its place. I wouldn't ride in poor light without it.
Hats are useful too, but not compulsory. I usually ride in one.
If you fall off when your horse spooks, you should probably wear a hat.
If your child's pony bolts, you should probably get a new pony.
Click to expand...

Most sensible thing I've seen on this thread, I'd say!
 
I'm surprised by some people's attitude.
To me it's a no brainer, I LOVE my horse with all my heart and if I have to look silly in a high viz so be it, I couldn't care. My biggest priority is to get my lad home safe.
 
pennyturner said:
I don't think anyone is saying it's the car drivers fault if they can't see you. I have said previously that I wear hi viz on iffy days. However the idea that a car driver on a normal day can't see a half ton horse (or group therof) is laughable.
Click to expand...

Penny turner I agree with you that it looks crap, I agree that it won't stop people driving like numpties and i agree that people have a choice but I do not agree with your statement above.

I nearly drove into a friend once on the way to the yard. I was NOT driving quickley as I was slowing down about to turn into the yard, but she was under shadow and I simply did not see her in her dark clothes on her dark horse. It scared the living day lights out if me. I just couldn't see her.

We now always wear hi viz and I don't care that it looks crap. I'd rather be alive thank you.

I also question whether insurance companies would always cover you in circumstances as above if it resulted in an accident. I'm not saying they would or wouldn't, I'm asking.

I agree that cyclists have much more fashionable gear. My oh is a cyclist and its really pretty good.

I also agree that people have a choice what they do. However as a physio who has rehabbed many a person I'd urge everyone to think that it COULD happen to them (it happens every day to someone) and how it would affect your nearest and dearest if the worst were to happen (and that doesn't neccessarily mean death. I've seen much worse than death on ITU and beyond let me tell you). It's about minimising the risk.
 
I have actually read it somewhere but can't at the moment remember where, google it if you don't believe me !, although I don't actually care either way.
 
weebarney said:
I have actually read it somewhere but can't at the moment remember where, google it if you don't believe me !, although I don't actually care either way.
Click to expand...

Oh I just find a seven second difference very hard to believe and no I won't google it I'll simply not believe it.
 
Atlantis iv neally done the same, couple of friends out riding on dark horses in dark clothes, and I never saw them until the last min. When I told them because it did shake me up they didn't care one bit and still goes out without hi viz, their choice but they may not be so lucky next time.
 
They have lookouts golden star. They wear orange high viz as must everyone on the track. When we see someone wearing it we have to sound the train horn to give the workers time to get out the way. The workers are responsible for knowing the speed, frequency and direction of travel of the trains and ultimately for getting out the way of any trains that come along.
 
weebarney said:
I have actually read it somewhere but can't at the moment remember where, google it if you don't believe me !, although I don't actually care either way.
Click to expand...

Copperpot said:
They have lookouts golden star. They wear orange high viz as must everyone on the track. When we see someone wearing it we have to sound the train horn to give the workers time to get out the way. The workers are responsible for knowing the speed, frequency and direction of travel of the trains and ultimately for getting out the way of any trains that come along.
Click to expand...

I am very glad to hear it , I could not get my brain around hi viz being worn so that drivers could slow down trains at all .
Well that's one less thing to worry about.
 
thatsmygirl said:
Atlantis iv neally done the same, couple of friends out riding on dark horses in dark clothes, and I never saw them until the last min. When I told them because it did shake me up they didn't care one bit and still goes out without hi viz, their choice but they may not be so lucky next time.
Click to expand...

Ditto. I wound down my window to say to her and she just laughed. Didn't wear hi viz after that either. It was years ago and I remember it vividly. Really horrible thought what could have been. Luckily it wasn't.
 
weebarney said:
Golden star believe what you want that's absolutely fine if you don't want to look into it. After all common sense cannot be learnt !
Click to expand...

No, but statistics can be made up it seems. I have googled it, and while I may very well not have used the right search term to find it I did manage to find lots of academic studies into the issue and in none of them was there any difference in time to see a rider or walker calculated or quantified in any way. In some there were highly variable findings in a change in driver response time, but that is something entirely different.
 
weebarney said:
Picture this, rider out with no hi viz on beautiful day, car driver may have 3 seconds notice to avoid, break or plough straight through them. Then exact same rider in same stretch of road same beautiful day but they are wearing a hi viz vest, car driver now has 10 seconds to either brake, avoid or plough through them. Which do you think offers the best chance to horse and rider ? It's not about seeing or not seeing, it's about seeing in time to do something about it.
Click to expand...

I think these statistics are completely wrong, on a beautiful day there will be hardly any if there even is any difference with someone wearing high vis and someone not wearing it.

Now on a dark, rainy day or if the person is riding in under a dark area or riding next to a big hedge then yes there will clearly be a difference, but this difference it all depend on the driver, their eyesight, how well they are concentrating, wether they are tired etc.
There will never be accurate figures for this because of the amount of variable factors
 
JennyConnor said:
WOW! I've never seen something so stupid!!

Take these two pictures for example; one riding on a bright, sunny day. The other on more of an overcast day, both are incredibly hard to spot even when the camera is stationary and not moving like a normal car would.

hiviz.png


943159_10200771420020380_1163389246_n.jpg


I'll move onto your 3 point now:
1: Safety isn't a fashion show. Wear it and be thankful that you are your horse come back safely from a hack.
2: Yes, some drivers are idiots, but most are very courteous to riders and respect them on the road. I would definitely rather spot a horse a mile off in the distance wearing hi-viz, than be 2 meters from them swerving to another lane.
3: It's not enforced by law. You're not being told what to do. It should be common sense.. If you find it a form of bullying/oppression you really should not be on the roads putting your life, your horse and other road users at risk because 'I don't want to follow safety rules'.

I fully suggest you put your toys back in your pram and grow up before you cause an accident!
Click to expand...


That first picture was taken by my husband!! He was admiring the Cairngorms when out on his bike. I sent it to the BHS as I thought it was an excellent example of why we should wear high viz.

I rarely venture on the roads but when I do I always wear high viz. There are so many incompetent drivers on the road that I don't want to risk them not spotting me. The same goes for cyclists and even motorbikes. They can blend in so easily. When riding off road I generally also wear high viz, or at least something bright. It means walkers can see me coming, as well as people out shooting deer and also low flying aircraft (very common around here).
 
weebarney said:
Dab dab I can't quote but what do you mean by the findings in the driver response times being something entirely different ?
Click to expand...

Well I think you said that your statistic related to drivers taking 3 seconds rather than 10 seconds to see someone wearing high vis. That is something that is very hard to measure - so in most studies people don't. Instead they measure the response time from when they think the driver should be able to see the cyclist or whatever to the time they start to take evasive action. This is easier to measure but is not very accurate so there are no widely accepted figures for this either. But even if there were the time it takes a driver to respond is not just dependent on the time it takes them to see a particular object.

Everybody agrees that high vis makes a rider/walker/motorcyclist more visible, particularly in the gloom, but it is very hard to quantify how much more.
 
Last edited:
Sorry but your first paragraph is wrong. Even from personal experience i can tell you there is of course a difference even on a lovely clear day . How ? Because the horses colour and a horse riders brown , green , black riding wear blend into the road colour, trees and hedges, on the other hand bright pink stands out from these background colours so you see them quicker
 
I would assume that it could be quantified by using a simulator or such like and the 'driver' pushing a button the second they see the object
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top