visibility jacket law??

it is right that a new law is being impose on us bikers to wear visibility jackets?
as from April .
if the police pulled up for not wearing one they will issue one for free but if you get caught again and not wearing one you will get 3 points on your licence as well as £60 fine.
thought this was for the Irish guys?

As far as I'm aware that law is not for the UK, it is to become compulsory for ireland & France

I have heard its for france and ireland only currently, rest of the UK hasnt had anything go through about it yet.

Though as good as wearing a high viz jacket maybe be to 'get us seen' if the other road users dont look, it could just be another tax on road users for not having them on!

Will be interesting to see if the UK signs up to all these proposed new EU rules on biking, personally i think some of them are a complete joke, politicians who know nowt about motorcycling dictating to people that they cant do anything anymore, yet no similar rules for the car industry......

sorry for the slightly offtopicness there.

I dressed up as Santa Clause for a Charity Bike Ride and on the way there someone tried to kill Santa (Me).

Bright Blue Bike, Headlight on and a pratt in a Bright Red Suite riding it!!! If they can't see me with all that, what difference will a high viz vest make to Statistics?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

YZFJohn wrote:I dressed up as Santa Clause for a Charity Bike Ride and on the way there someone tried to kill Santa (Me).

Bright Blue Bike, Headlight on and a pratt in a Bright Red Suite riding it!!! If they can't see me with all that, what difference will a high viz vest make to Statistics?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

my point exactly, surely more should be done in getting drivers looking more as well as us bikers wearing more visible gear??

YZFJohn wrote: on the way there someone tried to kill Santa (Me).

That may have been because you didn't deliver the right pressies


Thanks for the heads up on Ireland, I knew the French had been pushing ahead, but didn't realise the Irish had tagged along.
To me having everyone in a hi viz just creates so much 'noise' we become invisible again.

The SMIDY is so often an excuse, I wonder how some of the drivers I see pulling out in front of double decker buses and trams can argue that. Only time I wear a hi viz is when I'm marshalling or tail-end charlie - ie whilst I'm with other bikers.

The French law comes into force as of next January, I believe. Riders will have to wear something reflective of at least 350 sq cm between the waist and the neck. It can be part of the rider's jacket, a bib, or armbands etc. Like a lot of this stuff, it doesn't apply to 125's and under, i.e about 90% of the PTW's in France - which, incidentally, you can ride on a car licence there without taking a further test.

The French have also just passed a requirement for all drivers to carry a one-shot breathaliser. Right now I'm not sure if this will apply to bikes as well as cars.

I don't know the detail of the Irish proposal - the last I heard it was going to be a complete hi-vis top with sleeves, but that may have changed.

The whole world has gone mad.

i heard about that one shot breath thingy, problem is what happens if your leaving a bar at 11pm and test yourself to check your ok?

you could be stopped by the police and fined for not having one.......


but I agree who worlds gone mad, the EU proposals for biking is a joke, I really hope it all gets thrown out as it will completely wreck the biking industry as we know it, which in the current economic climate is hardly the thing to do, blithering eurocrats

Euro legislation has gone mad - where there's one sensible and welcome Health and Safety law, there's another that's OTT and seemingly counter-productive. The previous comment about 'noise' seems particularly apt. Once, hi-vis really caught the eye because it was so unusual; now you just expect to see it many times a day so you barely register it's there.
I really thought some time ago that with all the flapping about emissions, global warming and the evils of the car etc., that moves would come along that actually favoured the biker. But apart from freedom from congestion charges and being able to use a 2+ lane, I've not seen anything.
But let's not get into a flap over that which we cannot change. Life's too short. I decided to go the hi-vis route last year and got myself an Icon mil-spec vest. Good fit, well-made and it's got three handy pockets

I prefer to wear dayglo as i don't see the point of stealth on the road.
More people that see me the better.....or am I just a show off.

I quite like the fact that most folks seeing me in their rear view do their best to pull over on the dual carriageways and motorways and make it easy for me to pass on single carriageways as they assume it's a police jacket (ok maybe I stole it)

Quite how the thundercat in b&q delivery bike livery passes for a plod bike I don't know. Maybe the HID light helps.

Regardless of what you wear, or ride and whether you have right of way or not doesn't really matter we still need to ride defensively.

Will it be good if we all look like traffic cops?

Be interesting to see how it pans out in France / Ireland.
Need to establish if / how it will affect our Big Mick excursion.

Being forced to wear dayglo........doesn't really affect me but I think it's fine as it is as a recommendation from a safety point of view.

A bit like riding with lights on during the day....compulsory in some countries but just recommended here.

Cheers
Rosco

just as a point,, the other day coming home from work on the M62, saw 2 bikes (seperatly) both in heavy rain with no lights on,, couldnt see them coming at all!!!!!!, no hi vis no lights doing 90 + ,,well there go death wishes as far as im concerned

Rosco wrote:I prefer to wear dayglo as i don't see the point of stealth on the road.
More people that see me the better.....or am I just a show off.

Rocket Rosco?