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Hi viz or not to hi viz
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Thanks Solent Runner..I got off lightly in the end, ear had a chunk out of it that was mended with plastic surgery and now barely shows.
I did have a '' this could kill me '' thought as I rolled over the bonnet so was quite nervous around traffic for a while ( I was even aware of things like shopping trolleys bumping into me at the shops for a bit! ) but fine now.
Just made me realise that one can never be too careful and a bit of hi viz is an easy precaution to take.
A 'Yes' for me
I wear a reflective vest that can be bought for a mere £1) and a white baseball cap or light coloured hat when its colder
Yeah..it was not much fun but I was very very lucky to have not been badly injured. No permanent damage at all.
Also have a Nike Electrolite, and am adapting tire-flys for my trainers!
And I almost ran into a runner in a fluo jacket the other night - running round a corner - I took it wide as I couldn't see if anyone else was coming - and this woman runner flew round on the inside. We both got a shock.
You can dress as brightly as you like, but you still cant be seen from round a corner !
Why take the risk of not wearing it?
I'd rather be safe than sorry, lying on the road thinking, damn, if only I'd worn something more visable. I also wear hi vis/reflective arm bands when out walking the dogs after dark, who have refelective harnesses so cars see them too. Why take the risk?
Plus I like looking like a Banana whilst out running!!
It’s the person that makes the difference, not the clothes. Unless you are running in the road then high viz is fashion not function. Most people I know don’t buy a pair of trainers based on colour.
I have nothing against high viz, but colour is bottom of my list in terms of clothing choice.
I'd rather the person behind the wheel didn't crash into me whilst I cross the street.
I would never have described hi vis as fashion, but what would I know.
Certainly the armbands I wear walking coupled with the dog's reflective harnesses are a look, lol.
It might well not have made a difference in any of my 3 situations this year, but ive decided to make myself seen in the hope that maybe i can stay alive longer.
One of my near misses involved a motor vehicle that swung across a footpath into a driveway without warning, presumingly not having seen me. So i have to think that hi viz would have helped.
Another involved a cyclist without lights coming the other way round a corner, and the third, and thankfully the one with full contact was with someone who came out of their garden gate unannounced straight into my path ;-p
Certainly cant say its a fashion statement for me. My high viz consists of the bright yellow vest with reflective strips from the boot of my car.
Definitely not something id be wearing to be trendy !
I come from a rock climbing background with some 20 years experience. Over that time I climbed thousands of routes with a rope and several hundred without one. The reason I climbed some without a rope was because it gave me freedom of movement and some excitement to literally be making life or death choices. I never fell off. Why? Luck or good judgement?
I’ve been running for a similar amount of time. Crossing thousands of roads, hundreds of them in the dark with no high viz. The reason I ran at night without high viz was that it was never in my kit bag and I felt confident I could cross roads. I never got ran over or had a near miss. Why? Luck or good judgement?
If I suddenly stop posting on the forum then you will know my luck ran out. If I don’t then you will know it wasn’t luck.
Or that someone was going to walk straight out of a hidden garden opening straight into my path.
Still guess we cant all be good judges of what acts of complete randomness could occur
I think they're is some misconception about hi-vis gear. Hi-vis on its own, as has been said, is for daylight / low light conditions. It's actually less effective in headlights.....white is far more reflective. However, if you want to be really seen at night in headlights, then you need something with retro-reflective tape / logos on it........the colour of the garment is then irrelevant.
I have to run down lanes with no lighting. During the day I wear a hi-vis pink or white top. At night I wear anything I like, as long as it has retro-reflective tape or logos on it
I wear a high viz vest but its covered in reflective strips.
Good for day or night
Polly has it right I reckon as do the others that point out the gear doesn't grant the wearer any special immunity from the consequences of collision with a vehicle of any kind. Best to assume that their wipers don't work, the windscreen is misted up and that they are suffering from some of the after effects from drinking ten pints of wife beater.
Suprising comments on this thread!
I wonder if the people who don't bother wearing hi vis/reflective stuff are the same "it'll never happen to me" types that are reckless in other areas of life.
Surely anyone who's been running for long enough knows that you want to be as visible as possible, so that some goon cyclist,walker, or fellow runner doesn't wipe you out. I often see fools out running in black clothing in the dark, genius.
Yes, we can run on paths, but you'll always have roads you have to cross or avoid motorists exiting their houses.
As for the argument that when you're walking you don't wear hi vis...well firstly I know some people who do, but obviously when you're walking you're travelling a lot slower, so you have a lot more time to react.
I personally know of a family friend who was knocked down just last year out walking, wearing black in the dark...would he have been seen better in hi vis/reflective? That's not even a question worth posing, the answer is so obvious.
I therefore make sure that I am fully visible with a mixture of high vis/reflective/flashing light armband. No excuse then for me not to be seen or for others to see me.
Well said.
Day Glo Joes story...
Joes a novice runner and after reading about the importance of Hi Viz on a well known runners forum decides to go out and make a few purchases. He doesn’t do things by half, so ends up with jacket, shorts and trainers all in luminous yellow with reflective trim. He adds a head torch and arm strobes as the finishing touches. Off he goes for his first night time run. He lives in the countryside so sets off down the road, with his back to the traffic, confident in the knowledge that everybody can see him and so they can all avoid him or stop. After the first mile he turns off the road into a residential area. He moves onto the footpath (well actually a cycle path, but that doesn’t matter as nobody cycles at night). As he wants to try and set a PB he fly’s down the path cutting every corner and staying as close to the wall as he can, “bump”, what was that – no time to stop, there’s a PB at stake here. After another mile he zooms out of the side road then back along the country road home. What a pleasant run and all those motorists patiently waiting or waving and shouting encouragement to him – or at least that’s what he thinks they said as he couldn’t hear them over his iPod.
Ninja Fool Jules story...
Jules is a shy type, she doesn’t like drawing attention to herself and so always wears black when running. She’s been a runner for many years so knows the risks and picks her route carefully. It’s not going to be her daytime route, but rather one which avoids road crossings as much as possible and keeps clear of driveways or cycle paths. Off she goes alert to traffic and others who can’t see her – she knows she’s pretty much invisible, so stops at every road and driveway, goes wide round each bend and really listens out for others. There’s one particular road that she crosses which is one way – she checks both as it wouldn’t be the first time someone got this wrong. She always looks a long way ahead and takes care for hidden footpaths or driveways (although there aren’t that many on the dual carriageway she’s running next to at the moment).
If you believe high viz is helpful, but not the only way to stay safe at night then read this:
Ending 1: After a steady run she arrives home safely, looking forwards to tomorrows daytime park run where she can chase that PB.
If you believe that high viz is essential kit and that only an idiot would choose not to wear it then read this:
Ending 2: Back on her own street she mentally starts to relax and switch off. Just at that point another runner dressed in luminous yellow, head torch and strobes leaps out of from the cycle path ahead, she doesn’t notice him in time and he clips her as he passes, but he doesn’t seem to notice. The knock sends her off balance, she tumbles and lands in the road, just as a car is passing...as the car skids her only thought is ‘if only I’d worn high viz’.
BE SAFE HOWEVER YOU RUN.
I'm with you Rob, whatever gear you're wearing does not give you invincibility against the carelessness of others. I don't wear high viz stuff and I rely on my good sense when crossing roads, running wide around corners and I always get out of the way of oncoming pedestrians. If I know I will be running on roads without paths, then I do have a headtorch with a backlight that I use for night trails that I would use, but I still move over when I hear a car coming.
None of the incidents people have described seem like they could have been avoided by high viz or reflective gear, but it is individual choice, but as runners, we need to remember that everyone else on the roads are idiots and as superior beings we must acknowledge their stupidity by avoiding them
Glad to see you're still being lucky Rob