Should you wear reflective clothing as a crazy cyclist?

Over several months, one cyclist wore seven different outfits on his daily 50km commute between Berkshire and outer London. Using an ultrasonic distance sensor he recorded how much space passing motorists gave him, logging data from 5,690 vehicles. The outfits ranged from racing kit to a reflective vest with ‘novice cyclist’ printed on the back. Some of the outfits included high-visibility jackets and vests.

"It’s unlikely that cycling outfits could ever provide a sustainable solution to rider safety," Walker says. "The optimum solution to the very closest overtakes will not lie with cyclists themselves, and instead we should look to changes in infrastructure, education or the law to prevent drivers getting dangerously close when overtaking cyclists."

It’s worth thinking about what actually causes accidents. Walker adds. ‘There are only three possible reasons a motorist could hit a cyclist: 1 Failure to spot the cyclist; 2 Saw the cyclist but misjudged the maneuver; 3 Deliberate aggression. In the best of all possible worlds, hi-vis could only ever address the first. The fact it doesn’t seem to fix things suggests that most collisions happen for reason number two.

Reflective clothing is even more effective than fluorescent clothing because it fires right back at the motorist,’ Rubin agrees. "Shoes with fluorescent or reflective panels would also increase visibility. Movement does capture attention – our visual system is more sensitive to a moving target." Case closed, you might think, and in 2014 a study in Canada found that while wearing light (not necessarily fluorescent) clothing decreased the risk of an accident in daylight.

The researchers believe this could be down to ‘risk compensation’ – the fact that cyclists may know how visible they are and the level of protection offered by reflective clothing and so take fewer risks in traffic.

So should you wear reflective clothing? Science says it’s more noticeable to the eye but, in the complex world of riding on the road where you are dealing with a variety of human factors, it is not proven to protect you.

Safety vests distributed free this weekend

This weekend the association Attitude Prevention distributes free orange safety vests on the A6 motorway. A road safety awareness campaign for parents and children.

It's the first weekend of hunted cross, with Bison seeing red for departures and orange for arrivals this Saturday. An association, Attitude Prevention, took the opportunity to distribute orange safety vests on the A6 motorway. This summer, the association wants to make parents and children aware of road safety.

All visitors are entitled to the same bag, with inside, certainly drinks, crisps and some warning messages, but especially an orange vest adapted to the child size. Very few motorists seem to know. Jacques has only one vest in his car, and that's for him. So when this Burgundy receives the bags for 4 children, he laughs and finds the good idea. Same mood for Marie-Pierre, who likes this "booster shot".

At the origin of the event, the association Attitude Prevention. With these vests this summer, she wants to educate the big, but especially the smallest. "If adults have safety vests with reflective materials, we must also think about children".

This awareness comes after a study conducted by the association, according to which 45% of children interviewed know that a safety vest with reflective tapes must be put out of the vehicle in case of accident or breakdown. According to this study, 64% of the children interviewed have already noted a risky attitude of their parents. "We are very attentive to the transmission of good gestures between the parents and the children" note Nathalie, general secretary.

The association has planned other distribution of these orange vests, every weekend until August 19 inclusive. She wants to show that during the holidays, we must remain very vigilant on the road.

Car accident abroad: how to behave correctly?

Summer holidays - what could be better? But the holiday season can be fast at the time of the accident. Whether a stupid mistake when parking or a rear-end collision, because you were distracted by sightseeing. But what if the car accident happened abroad? What do you have to pay attention to and how should you prepare yourself?

As idyllic as many wish the holiday: vacation time is also accident time. A recent analysis by the insurance company HUK-COBURG revealed that 43 percent of all foreign claims in the past year occurred in the summer months of July to September. The average amount of damage was in these cases at least 3,500 Euros - not cardboard stem. The most frequent crash of German motorists in Italy: 17 percent of foreign accidents occurred there. Close behind is Austria with 16 percent and France with 11 percent of all motor liability claims.

If it crashed: Important at the scene of the accident

The most important thing is to safeguard the scene of the accident - this applies both to foreign countries and to us. Specifically, this means: Turn on the hazard warning lights, set up the warning triangle at a sufficient distance - usually around 100 meters - in front of the scene of the accident. If the scene of the accident lies in a curve or in front of a dome, the triangle must always be set up in front of it.

Important before getting out of the car: wear safety vest. As for us, the wearing of a safety vest with reflective material is also mandatory for most of our neighboring European countries. Who is caught without, must pay: How high the fine fails, is different: The range varies from 14 Euros to 1,400 Euros. In many countries, not only car drivers but also motorcyclists must be equipped with a light vest. Equally variable is the states with the question of whether hi vis vests only for the driver or for all vehicle occupants must be present. A copy for each one is always on the safe side.

Log the accident

There are some states, such as Poland or Romania, which require reporting an accident to the police. In order to do nothing wrong, a call to the police is always correct. Even if - as is usual in some places - it only absorbs material damage or personal injury.

With or without police, an accident must be logged. Only those who can prove claims, are entitled to compensation. That's why the European accident report - which you get with your car insurance - belongs in the glove box. European Accident Report is bilingual in some countries. If the accident opponent also has one, you can rest assured that the questions are identical.

Those who carefully answer the questions of personal details, insurance and accident history have laid a sound basis for claims settlement. Names and addresses of any witnesses should be noted as well as photos taken at the scene of the accident.

Important: In France or the Benelux countries, the European accident report has a much more important role than in Germany. The undersigned irrevocably acknowledges the content. Comments or contradictions must be recorded under point 14. In case of contradictions or language difficulties, it is best to fill in and sign, your own report. Subsequently, the copies are exchanged.