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Cycling without a helmet and high-visibility jacket may be made criminal offences in Ireland (irishcycle.com)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/fuckcars@lemmy.world
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[–] -1 points 9 months ago (4 children)

That's not victim blaming, that's being sensible.

As someone who both bikes a lot and drives, seeing bikes in the city at night on a rainy day, with all the various lights, water reflections and loss of visibility from rain is a nightmare if they don't use lights, or have poor ones. Hi-vis vests are a godsend, makes life easier all around.

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  • [–] 3 points 9 months ago

    What you're saying is true, and when riding in those conditions I choose to wear a high-vis and helmet.

    Nonetheless it is victim-blaming to make it mandatory (nevermind doing that in broad daylight). There's always more that could be done ; clown hat, flashing lights, police escort, machine guns, F-35s. We have to draw the line somewhere, and if headlights are good enough for cars, they're good enough for cyclists. Cars would also see fewer accidents if they were covered in high-vis paint, yet curiously no-one is arguing for mandating it.

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

    Where I'm from, you are required to adjust your speed to visibility.
    If someone has trouble seeing cyclists who have all the required visibility measures, they are driving too fast, or shouldn't be driving at all.

    It's hard to see this as anything else but allowing drivers to drive faster at the inconvenience of cyclists, under punishment of a felony.

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  • [–] 0 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    If someone has trouble seeing cyclists who have all the required visibility measures

    That was the point I was making. Cyclists SHOULD be wearing/using all of these at night/in the rain, for everyone's safety.

    If you can't see cyclists during the day in fair weather without them wearing a hi-vis vest, you shouldn't be driving. I think we're on the same page there.

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago

    Cyclists SHOULD be wearing/using all of these at night/in the rain, for everyone's safety.

    Wouldn't it make walkers and animals less safe because they're not wearing them and motorists will be looking for hi-vis instead of ordinary people and animals. It might make motorists less safe too, because fallen trees and shed loads won't have hi-vis on but hitting them will still kill some drivers and passengers.

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