{"id":436666,"date":"2026-02-20T20:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436666\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T20:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:08:10","slug":"cyclists-could-be-required-to-wear-hi-vis-clothing-amid-calls-to-change-highway-code-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/436666\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyclists could be required to wear hi-vis clothing amid calls to change Highway Code rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts have suggested that cyclists should wear high-visibility clothing on the road to improve safety for all road users.<\/p>\n

Thomas O’Connor, assistant general secretary of Ireland’s National Bus and Rail Union, put forward recommendations to a Joint Oireachtas Committee on transport and road safety earlier this week.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Leinster House, Ireland’s Parliament, Mr O’Connor explained that driving a larger vehicle, like a bus, is difficult.<\/p>\n

He noted that navigating hazards is a “deluge”, noting that it can be even more difficult at night when road safety is even more of an imperative.<\/p>\n

Mr O’Connor said: “The requirement for mandatory high-vis clothing for all cyclists and scooters, from the perspective of a bus driver, would make the roads a safer place, as it would make potential hazards easier to spot.<\/p>\n

“Bus drivers as they gain experience, learn to anticipate things and often prevent potential accidents through pre-emptive defensive driving. High visibility clothing would make that task inherently easier.”<\/p>\n

It comes after Ireland’s Department of Transport hinted at the introduction of new rules impacting cyclists.<\/p>\n

Proposals have been put forward that would mandate helmet and hi-vis legislation for riders of bicycles and e-bikes, Road.CC reported.<\/p>\n

\"Cyclists<\/p>\n

Experts have called for cyclists to wear high-visibility clothing to reduce accidents <\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

However, these plans appear to have been amended, with Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister (T\u00e1naiste) Simon Harris, saying the rules would not apply to non-motorised bikes.<\/p>\n

The Fine Gael politician stated taht the law change would only apply to electric scooters and electric bikes.<\/p>\n

The Highway Code states that cyclists should wear appropriate clothing that does not get tangled in the chain or obscure any lights.<\/p>\n

It adds that light-coloured or fluorescent clothing can help other road users see cyclists in daylight and poor light.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The Highway Code calls on motorists to wear clothing that makes them <\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

HIGHWAY CODE<\/p>\n

Reflective clothing and accessories, including belts, arm bands or ankle bands, can increase their visibility in the dark.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Cycling UK explained that it had concerns around Rule 59 of the Highway Code and its guidance around clothing.<\/p>\n

It stated: “There is no sound evidence that hi-vis clothing makes a positive impact on cyclists’ safety.<\/p>\n

“The rule is frequently used to blame cyclists when drivers fail to see them (because they have not helped themselves to be seen by wearing hi-vis), in order to deflect attention from their own apparent failure to look properly.”<\/p>\n

\"Cyclist<\/p>\n

Cycling UK has called for changes to the Highway Code <\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

A briefing paper from Cycling UK identified that wearing hi-vis clothing makes “very little difference” to how closely motorists overtake a cyclist.<\/p>\n

It also highlights that retroreflective accessories attached to limbs make a larger difference than the colour of someone’s jacket.<\/p>\n

“Rule 59 advises light-coloured or fluorescent clothing, yet a cyclist wearing a yellow jacket as they ride past a field of oil seed rape is less conspicuous against that background than someone wearing a black jacket and white shorts,” Cycling UK stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Experts have suggested that cyclists should wear high-visibility clothing on the road to improve safety for all road…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[7816,4985,48916,6739,2274,655,50,101,56,54,55,231],"class_list":{"0":"post-436666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cars","9":"tag-cycling","10":"tag-driving-laws","11":"tag-highway-code","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-lifestyle","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom","19":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}