Going back to the hi-vis issue (again) I had had my local MP look into the matter for me and basically he reassured me that the government had no intentions of forcing the issue and I thought that was that, but now out of the blue nearly a month later I received another email from him which to be honest I never thought that my concerns meant that much to him, he has remembered to check with the House of Commons Library and emailed me their official view on the matter, it reads as follows
Hi-visibility clothing for motorcyclists

The DfT position is:-

• There are currently no plans to mandate the use of high visibility clothing. But we do recognise that it has benefits in preventing some collisions in some circumstances and we will continue to recommend its use by motorcyclists – and by cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders. Use is a matter of informed choice by riders themselves.

• We also address the issue of car drivers not seeing motorcyclists. Research carried out for DfT by Nottingham University has shown that this is a matter of driver awareness and not just of rider conspicuity. Hence our Think campaign “Named rider”, which aims to raise drivers’ awareness of and empathy towards motorcycle riders. This is also addressed through the driving test, in particular the hazard perception test, and other road safety educational interventions.

• Research carried out as part of the European Project 2 BE SAFE has found that high visibility clothing “can enhance riders’ conspicuity in certain situations but the effects are strongly mediated by the background conditions (e.g. lighting conditions) and by the characteristics of the driving situation (e.g. urban vs. rural traffic environment)”. It has also found that other measures, such as motorcycle lighting and driver awareness, are equally important in addressing collisions between cars and motorcycles.

What has really impressed me is that despite the matter being closed in my view and presumably his too, he remembered and bothered to send me the information- good on him!
Thank you Frank Field!

email (option): davmax@ntlworld.com

A good result Dave..nice to see the follow up being done by your MP. As to the conclusions of the DfT and EU reasearch I think it's a bit like researching whether it gets dark at night and concluding it does.
You don't need a degree to work out that driver awareness is as much a factor as visibility or that Hi Viz can make you more conspicuous in certain circumstances..Derr.. ...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com