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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Pacific Northwest
    Posts
    3,436

    Would like some Northwest opinions about rain jacket color

    I am about to replace my old yellow Burley rain jacket. I ordered a fairly bright blue Showers Pass jacket from TE (http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodSX_1256.html), and then started pondering whether drivers have a faster instinctive reaction to yellow/lime/orange jackets when they see them, whereas they might need a second or two to sort of process that the blue jacket is still a person. You know what I mean? The safety response to yellow seems to be kind of well established and maybe is faster? I'm not so worried about darkness, partly because I don't do that much night riding and because it's got plenty of reflective stuff. But I WOULD like a jacket that drivers would perceive as---Look, that's a person on a bike.

    Would like some opinions about this from people who ride regularly in the rain here. Thanks.
    "My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved;I have been given much and I have given something in return...Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and an adventure." O. Sacks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Vancouver, BC
    Posts
    3,932
    Well I ride in the rain and I have both yellow and blue jackets.

    I also drive in the rain, as I live in Vancouver.

    As a driver, I find yellow more visible and unambiguous.

    As a cyclist, I know that drivers who don't look for me don't see me, whatever I wear. The day I was hit (by a very slow car - thankfully - that "blew" a red light) I was wearing the yellow kit that makes me look like Big Bird. Makes you wonder.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Beautiful NW or Left Coast
    Posts
    5,619
    I'd be afraid that blue wasn't reflective enough. I get tired of the ubiquitous yellow, but it works.
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Western Canada-prairies, mountain & ocean
    Posts
    6,984
    All my cycling jackets are yellow/neon lime green: 4 different ones --each of different weights, different repellencies for different seasons. I do wear them all.

    Over the years, I've had people who are car-drivers, comment to me directly on elevators, etc. about the brightness of some of my neon-yellow/lime green jackets: they tell me it's an excellent colour choice for visibility. Some then proceed to complain about the cyclists who don't wear hi-vi colours for night/rain.
    My Personal blog on cycling & other favourite passions.
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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Uncanny Valley
    Posts
    14,498
    +1 on yellow, in any weather.

    It's not for the drivers who won't see you regardless of what you're wearing. It's for drivers who are paying attention, who will see you at least a quarter-mile sooner than if you weren't wearing hi-viz, and will have that much more time to respond to your presence.

    Make a note of this next time you're in your car and see someone wearing hi-viz. Look for someone else at approximately the same distance. See how much easier it was to pick out the one in hi-viz.
    Speed comes from what you put behind you. - Judi Ketteler

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    northern Virginia
    Posts
    5,897
    Having done plenty of bike rides with friends wearing blue jerseys, I noticed a long time ago that blue does not stand out well. (Neither does green.)

    Yellow and orange, even when they're not a toxic hi-vis shade, are much more noticeable from a distance.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    Puget Sound area, Washington state
    Posts
    765
    ++1 on the hi-viz yellow/orange, with added reflecting stripes and use of blinkies!

    Blue is a fave color of mine, and I too get tired of the yellow/orange/electric lime colors, but I want to be seen!
    When I'm the one driving and can't see other riders who are in darker colors (even on a beautiful sunny day, you can get lost in the shade and shadows you know), it reinforces my efforts to try and wear high viz clothing while riding and/or add blinkies, reflective strips if needed.

    Yes, many times, we can't do anything about drivers who are reckless, distracted or both, but I want to at least try to do what I can to be visible and catch the eye of anyone driving a vehicle on a road that I'm riding on, you know?
    Mary

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Columbia River Gorge
    Posts
    3,565
    I would definitely say that yellow is probably the most quickly noticed colour. Having said that I don't like always wearing yellow either. My compromise is a very good blinking tail light that I use all the time if it's cloudy and I'm on the road.
    Living life like there's no tomorrow.

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