Police target riders for not wearing hi-vis

Police in Sussex have admitted targeting motorcyclists for not wearing hi-vis bibs.

The force stopped 150 commuters for not wearing hi-vis gear in a five-day operation and issued each with a bib which they were told they should wear in a road-side lecture.

A force spokesman said: “Riders were given a free hi-vis vest and a talk about road safety, emphasising the need to ‘be safe, be seen’.

“Motorcyclists and moped riders are amongst the most vulnerable road users and often, in the event of a collision, the injuries are serious.

“A common theme when dealing with this type of collision is that other road users state they just didn’t see them.”

Sgt Mel Doyle in the Brighton and Hove road policing unit said any rider not wearing hi-vis clothing was in line to be targeted.

“Every police car was issued with hi-vis vests,” she said. “The objective of the operation was that if we saw motorcyclists riding without hi-vis clothing, we’d stop them and give them a vest.”

Sgt Paul Wood of the same unit added: “We stopped motorcyclists predominantly during rush-hour traffic in the mornings on the major routes into an out of Brighton.

“We had a look at their motorcycles and had a quick road safety chat with them in relation to them being vulnerable road users and conspicuity issues.

“And then we offered them a free high-visibility vest and said we would encourage you to wear it because in a lot of the collisions that occur within the city, drivers have said we looked but didn’t see them.”

Wood said there were no plans to stop drivers to raise their awareness of the same issues.

He denied riders not in hi-vis were targeted and said those already wearing hi-vis gear may also have been stopped during the operation last month.