Saw the high-viz police camelbak in the gun thread.

Horsey types around here wear high-viz jackets saying ‘Polite’, very convincing at even quite short distances.

Would there be a market ? I want to buy one.

Think there already is a market for that kind of thing

These things irritate the **** out of me when worn by sanctimonious horsey types. Wouldn’t be seen dead in one.

I first saw people wearing these at raves in the early ’90s.

It’s illegal to impersonate a policeman isn’t it? Fine line that…

I once saw a motorist take a cheeky short cut the wrong way down a one way street.
Thing was that at the entry (exit) to the street was a copper in dayglo on a horse.
If Mr Motorist is not really that fussed about what’s going on, your Polite jacket won’t save you.

It’s illegal to impersonate a policeman isn’t it”

What’s the law on impersonating a PCSO though ?

How about a hi viz with just “Community Support Officer” written on it ? If anyone asks, you’re impersonating a social worker.

These things irritate the **** out of me when worn by sanctimonious horsey types. Wouldn’t be seen dead in one.

No need to have a swipe at horsey people – they’re a persecuted minority on the roads just like cyclists. We’re all fighting the same cause here… 😉

No need to have a swipe at horsey people – they’re a persecuted minority on the roads just like cyclists. We’re all fighting the same cause here…

It’s the fact that the jackets are designed to fool you. They’re designed to trick you into slowing down and no one likes being tricked. Also it’s borderline illegal as above. What about if I put flashy blue lights on, then sticker up my car with a checked pattern and “POLITE” written in big letters? I’m not anti-horse, I’m anti being tricked by people that think they are above the law.

Even if my views are in the minority, I guarantee that a significant proportion of car drivers think the same. Wearing something like that will increase the tension between riders and drivers and that doesn’t benefit any of us.

What about if I put flashy blue lights on, then sticker up my car with a checked pattern

You would be breaking the law, that’s what.

The polite is a play on not reading it correctly, where as the fitting blue lights is illegal.

My mate made the ‘polite’ jackets, a load of us used to wear them at raves all over the country.
It’s nice to remember I wasn’t always a boring old bastard.

I don’t think anyone thought we were Police.

I have nothing to add other than I also hate the ‘Polite’ jackets. They’re dishonest and sneaky, horse riders and mountain bikers should always be trying to uphold a good image with the general public to offset the inevitable idiots out there, those jackets have the exact opposite effect with me.

to offset the inevitable idiots out there

at least these ‘Polite’ things make the idiots easier to spot 😉

I have nothing to add other than I also hate the ‘Polite’ jackets. They’re dishonest and sneaky

that how they seem to me too

I remember being at a squat rave in New Cross in 1991-ish, one cheeky crusty was wearing a kid’s police helmet and dayglo vest.

One fella who had imbibed something hallucinogenic saw him and jumped to conclusions, causing him to neck the rest of his stash in panic – and then to spend the rest of the night in the back of a van feeling a bit fragile.

You might think I’m going off on a tangent, but actions have consequences!

No need to have a swipe at horsey people – they’re a persecuted minority on the roads just like cyclists. We’re all fighting the same cause here…

You say that – a horse/rider pulled out in front of me on Tuesday without looking… (really!)

Champing best toilet read I have had for a long time

It’s the fact that the jackets are designed to fool you. They’re designed to trick you into slowing down and no one likes being tricked.

You don’t slow down around horses anyway then, is that to “teach them a lesson” or something? 🙄

Politeness costs nowt & might save you from being kicked in the head by a horse

I think people’s objection is that they’re for clever-dick attention whores, not that they hate slowing down for horses, RoCkEtDoG.

If that even is your real name.

If that even is your real name.

lol

I think I’ll pass given that I ride in Belfast. I’d rather dodge cars than petrol bombs.

I think people’s objection is that they’re for clever-dick attention whores, not that they hate slowing down for horses, RoCkEtDoG.

If that even is your real name.

i’d rather them wear a hi viz vest than dark clothing, but then it seems i don’t get wound up like some people do about passing “police” maybe i don’t have a guilty conscience

You don’t slow down around horses anyway then, is that to “teach them a lesson” or something?

I slow down for horses. Unless, of course, the rider is wearing a garment designed to fool other road users. In that case I rev my engine and beep the horn 🙄

It’s not the slowing down that I object to – it’s the deceit.

I know somebody who got pulled over by the real Police for something similar. On a former police motorbike, wearing all the day-glo kit etc. They told him to at least get rid of the decals from the bike and let him on his way !

There was a study published a couple of months ago which looked at how cyclists’ appearance affected how closely drivers overtook them.

Available, at a price, here

Here’s the abstract:

Title: The influence of a bicycle commuter’s appearance on drivers’ overtaking proximities
Organisation: University of Bath
Date uploaded: 13th January 2014
Date published/launched: November 2013

This study looked at whether drivers overtaking a bicyclist changed the proximities of their passes in response to the level of experience and skill signalled by the bicyclist’s appearance.

This study looked at whether drivers overtaking a bicyclist changed the proximities of their passes in response to the level of experience and skill signalled by the bicyclist’s appearance.

Five outfits were tested, ranging from a stereotypical sport rider’s outfit, portraying high experience and skill, to a vest with ‘novice cyclist’ printed on the back, portraying low experience.

A high-visibility bicycling jacket was also used, as were two commercially available safety vests, one featuring a prominent mention of the word ‘police’ and a warning that the rider was video-recording their journey, and one modelled after a police officer’s jacket but with a letter changed so it read ‘POLITE’.

An ultrasonic distance sensor recorded the space left by vehicles passing the bicyclist on a regular commuting route. 5,690 data points fulfilled the criteria for the study and were included in the analyses. The only outfit associated with a significant change in mean passing proximities was the police/video-recording jacket. Contrary to predictions, drivers treated the sports outfit and the ‘novice cyclist’ outfit equivalently, suggesting they do not adjust overtaking proximity as a function of a rider’s perceived experience.

Notably, whilst some outfits seemed to discourage motorists from passing within 1 metre of the rider, approximately 1-2% of overtakes came within 50 cm no matter what outfit was worn. This suggests there is little riders can do, by altering their appearance, to prevent the very closest overtakes; it is suggested that infrastructural, educational or legal measures are more promising for preventing drivers from passing extremely close to bicyclists.

For more information contact:
Ian Walker, Bath University
T: 01225 383908

An interesting quote from the discussion in this article:

But it is striking that driver behaviour to POLICE was so different to POLITE given
the key word differed by just one letter. Not only was passing much closer on average with
POLITE, but subjectively the experimenter reported feeling much more at risk, and encountered
overt acts of aggression from several drivers, when wearing POLITE.

Fuzz announced recently that anyone using this could be prosecuted.