For Every Example…
For every example there’s an equal and opposite, erm, example…
People who know me will know I’m not great proponent of bright yellow cycle clothing. For night riding I’ve got a jacket with reflective piping which I reckon is much more effective, and at all times ride in a manner to get myself seen, rather than relying on my clothing to do the job. Because, frankly, no clothing is up to that job. However…
Whenever the debate begins over bright-coloured cycle clothing there are examples that come out from people saying, “ah, but look at this photo, see how the yellow merges in with the background grass and becomes virtually invisible.” It’s a convincing photo as well, and certainly does exactly what the debater is saying. The problem is, it’s one example. Just one. Okay, show me ten more examples, they are still just ten. And the reason I’m so dismissive of the ‘example as proof’ is that it’s damned easy to find an opposite example.
Take, if you’ll pardon the pun, this for example.
Yellow!
The image is straight as it was out of the camera, snapped quickly on the way into work (not, I must add, with the intention of making this post). ‘Proof’, as it were, that hi-viz yellow really stands out from the background. Except I don’t see it as proof, nor offer it as proof, because I know that in different situations, with a different background and the sun in a different position, that jacket will be pointless.
So do we change clothing depending on what people can see around us? Pop a new jacket on or off whenever the sun creeps in and out of cloud cover? No. What we do is leave things to personal choice, rather than arrogantly assuming that we ourselves are right and everyone else, who happens to be doing something different from us, is wrong. There’s a phrase that goes something along the lines of ‘the plural of anecdote is not data’ – I think the same could be said of the plural of ‘example’, especially when it’s so easy to find an opposite.
Of course, whether those yellow jackets create a culture within which drivers are ONLY looking out for things so brightly coloured is a different debate for a different day…
I do believe that in bright sunshine it would be hard to see a bright yellow jacket – hence me either wearing black or blue.
Moral of story – if you think they can’t see you – pull out further into the road then they have no excuse
Trouble is people only see what they are looking for, see the TfL Bank Job Ad.
I think it’s difficult to say _either way_ – it’s as hard to prove that a flourescent yellow jacket will make you _more_ visible as it is to prove that it will make you _less_ visible. I wear one mostly because my 3 year old daughter brings it in for me to wear each morning. If there was a motion to make it a legal requirement, I would kick up a fuss, but other than that I don’t really see there’s much point in having a discussion…
…having said that, the main question for me is not one of visibility, but one of accessibility. Does it put people off?