Following confirmation that hi-viz is to become compulsory in France from 2013 and Ireland from 2014, MAG member Jon Wilmer (Regional Rep for Thames Valley) has launched a petition calling on the British Government to put pressure on the European Commission to discipline any member state that imposes clothing standards such as hi-viz on motorcycle riders.
The e-petition epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/26931 has gone live and runs for 3 months.
A recent review of road safety studies carried out by Plymouth University on behalf of Cornwall County council, demonstrates that the evidence for the road safety benefits of hi-viz clothing is unclear. Some studies finding that riders who wear reflective or fluorescent clothing are around one-third less likely to be involved in a crash, but other studies finding no such benefit.
MAG says that questions such as whether safer riders are more likely to choose to wear hi-viz, whether the colour of bike/clothing has more or less visual impact depending on the colour of the background or the prevailing weather demonstrate that the case for compulsory use at all times and in all circumstances is fundamentally flawed.
MAG policy is to defend the rider’s freedom of choice over riding equipment such as hi-viz and other types of clothing with various safety features.