Hi All

This September gone, the French have introduced a Law making it compulsory that all car drivers & passengers should have Hi-Visibility Vests availble in their cars.

They have also extended this law to all Cyclists requiring them to wear Hi-Vis vests.

As a commuting cyclist I purchased a Orange & Yellow Hi-Vis jacket 2 years ago, (to which colleagues ribb me that i look like i am off directing trains) but joking apart, I know for a fact it has saved me on two occasions from bouncing over a car bonnet!

So for once should our goverment follow suit? It would hopefully cut down on accidents?

Please vote.

ps As a car driver I too find it hard looking out for cyclists with your lights switched on, but with a Hi-Visibility Jacket on you stick out like a sore thumb :^)

Unfortunately if we start making it compulsory people to wear hi-vis vests people will stop doing things that are good for them. Similar arguements have been put for making cycle helmets compulsory. We have a major epidemic of adult and childhood obesity in this country and we need to get people making the choice of using active travel. One of the best things that people can choose to do is get on their bikes and cycle. However young people especially are very concerned about their image and if they were forced to wear a hi vis jacket or helmet large numbers of them will never get on heir bikes again and this would be disastrous for their health.
Roads have to be made safer for both pedestrians and cyclists I aggree but putting the onus on cyclists is not the way forward. The EC Sunflower report and numerous other publications have shown that mile for mile cycling is safer than walking so I suppose we should make all pedestrians wear Hi Vis jackets too.
I think if cyclists choose to wear Hi Vis jackets that is great, I choose to wear a helmet on my bike. If either of these choices were made to be compulsory then the numbers choosing to cycle would fall.
Let us tackle the cause of road fear for both pedestrians and cyclists and make safe driving compulsory, Safe speeds of 20mph as a default in residential areas (see 20splentyforus.org.uk) , and safe road design as promoted by the late Hans Monderman's concept of Shared Space are the real way forward.

I vote no. Thanks for the post Alex. It's an interesting debate but I agree completely with Christopher.

I normally wear a hi-viz jacket and helmet. However, if am going somewhere smart, I sometimes wear a suit and ditch the helmet. I don't want anyone interfering with my choice.

There are already laws relating to cycling safely. Jumping red lights, not using lights and riding on pavements are all illegal but widely performed. I disagree with flouting the law and particularly these three bad cycling practices. There are laws relating to safe driving of cars too, particularly relating to speed. These are frequently broken.

My vote would be to see the existing laws applied more vigorously to cyclists and drivers to uphold road safety. Once these laws are obeyed, the world will be much safer and then we might start thinking about making some more laws. For now we need better enforcement, not more legislation.

Joe