Would you wear a yellow jacket?

[Norbert]

Interesting article - I'm confused that the results listed the use of reflective or fluorescent clothing reducing risk but colo(u)r of clothing and motorcycle showed no correlation to rates. Seems to imply that a black jacket with reflective piping is equally as good as a yellow jacket with reflective piping which isn't intuitive.

I don't know about that, honestly I'm lazy so didn't crunch the numbers, but I did I see this:

Use of reflective or fluorescent clothing
Nearly 20% of control drivers were wearing some type of reflective or fluorescent clothing. Drivers wearing reflective or fluorescent clothing had a 37% lower risk of crash related injury than those who were not wearing such materials (multivariate odds ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.42 to 0.94).


drivers = riders


Also, I'd like to add that this article was published in the British Medical Journal, which is a top peer-reviewed medical journal. This wasn't made by some summer interns looking to pad their resume....

 

[Spideyrex]

Yes yes yes.

 

[rbesr]

One of my mesh jackets is bright yellow.

 

[AngelFZ]

Wear what makes you feel comfortable and is appropriate, in terms of protection (armor, temperature, etc.) Of course visibility is a big consideration

I do see a lot of HD riders on the road and, for the most part, they only have leather vests with all the pins and patches they can fit. It could be part of their culture but protection-wise does not go a long way, so who would they be to talk!!!!

 

[Jblk9695]

All the time, I have a yellow mesh and a Tecnic Yellow perf leather, the cagers seem to notice me quicker than when I wear a gray jacket that I have.

Jerry

 

[codeblue]

Safety first is something alot of us believe in here. No sense of looking cool if you're splattered on the road on account that someone didn't see you. Here I am during a meet in VT. This vest BTW, catches alot of attention from local law enforcement 'coz this is the same vest they wear.:BLAA:

 

[rickvan67]

I actually have two jackets; the black "cool" one mostly for weekend rides and public rides/rallys and a high viz obnoxious green one that i wear for commuting. On the freeway in rush hour traffic I'm more concerned with being visible and arriving alive than maintaining some sort of cool image.

 

[RJ2112]

Safety first is something alot of us believe in here. No sense of looking cool if you're splattered on the road on account that someone didn't see you. Here I am during a meet in VT. This vest BTW, catches alot of attention from local law enforcement 'coz this is the same vest they wear.:BLAA:

If you REALLY want traffic to pay attention to you...... wear a helmet in the same color scheme as your local LEOs do. Half white, half black works wonders.

Used to ride with a kid who had such a helmet, FF, black on the bottom, with a white top. He always had a perfect space bubble around him.......

 

[Bikebiz]

There's a new Ixon jacket that has pull-out yellow safety strips on the arms and back, that you can cover over if you're riding with mates and don't want to stand out.

 

[McLovin]

IMO yellow is much better than florescent green..

 

[fzme]

You can't go wrong with Kevlar. Check out the pics at the bottom of this link. They have a few variations of the high-vis yellow. The black/yellow one looks pretty nice...

air mesh kevlar jacket

 

[Jonno271]

I wear this one and I honestly think that it increases visibilty ten fold. I've had many people pull out on me in the past, one particular individual pulled out and hit me with his Range Rover, still got pins in my leg 8yrs on! Anyway, with this jacket on the cage drivers seem to see me coming and get out of the way. One word of warning though, I've worn it through the winter, come rain or shine and the hi-viz has obviously got dirty from road salt/grime etc. and I CAN NOT get it out. Tried Tech wash and normal detergent but it won't budge...

I'll be reverting back to my black leathers for the summer but I'm seriously considering wearing a hi-viz jacket over the top.

 

[rjo3491]

I wear this one and I honestly think that it increases visibilty ten fold. I've had many people pull out on me in the past, one particular individual pulled out and hit me with his Range Rover, still got pins in my leg 8yrs on! Anyway, with this jacket on the cage drivers seem to see me coming and get out of the way. One word of warning though, I've worn it through the winter, come rain or shine and the hi-viz has obviously got dirty from road salt/grime etc. and I CAN NOT get it out. Tried Tech wash and normal detergent but it won't budge...

I'll be reverting back to my black leathers for the summer but I'm seriously considering wearing a hi-viz jacket over the top.

Thanks all for your comments. Looks like yellow is more common than I thought. As for Jonno's comment above, I had already considered the dirt problem. The dead bugs on my Joe Rocket jacket (which is low-viz black) were no problem as was all their blood that was not visible against the dark fabric,

If I pull the trigger on a high-viz jacket, I'll have a washing thread later - stay tuned!!

Thanks again all:

Jay

 

[Rob2222]

In your situation (family with kids) I definitely would! :thumbup:

BR Rob

 

[Debaser]

I wear this one and I honestly think that it increases visibilty ten fold.

Mine is very similar...

 

[nextfriday]

There's a "racer guy" who lives in my area who rides a dark rsv4. His leathers are all black. But he wears a solid yellow high viz helmet. I can see this guy coming from a mile away. I've seen riders with yellow jackets and for whatever reason they just dont stand out to me. I would be more apt to buy a jacket which has a lot of reflective pieces on it when i get caught in the dark.

 

[Nelly]

Hi I have been wearing a high vis vest for the last nine months. I recentley purchased some new gear. Based pn your reasoning. I got a jacket with high vis panels. No regrets what so ever. Cars do see me better. Obviously no substitute for good observational riding. Nelly

 

[alanrim]

I have the Richa too, which I wear 90% of the time. The number of bikers in UK now wearing high vis jackets seems to increase weekly. I have also changed to a white helmet now too. Last time out with my pal he commented how visible I was thanks to the jacket.

For rallies when the leather jacket is more practical wear I have a Tinwolf mesh vest for travelling too/from the rally TinWolF stylish hi-vis motorbike vests

 

[The Toecutter]

My gear is all solid black,gloves ,boots, jacket, pants ,and helmet...i just ride like i'm invisible at all times.... :BLAA:

 

[mcteague]

Take a look at bikes coming head-on towards you. You really don't even see much of the jacket. Most serious bike\car accidents are with each vehicle facing each other. Typically the car turns in front of the bike.

IMO the best way to be noticed is with a headlight modulator and solid white, yellow or orange helmet.

Tim