Modern Vespa

I do much of my commuting on the Atlanta roadways, and they are not very biker friendly let alone Vespa friendly. Vespas also don't help with a single headlight and minimal tail lights.

Any tips on making sure you are seen on the roads with your Vespa? How do you make sure you are seen and heard to stay safe?

Thanks

Maybe you should say in what sort of situations it happens (junctions, freeway, city driving etc) or is it pretty much all the time? Usually the problem is more how people ride and position themselves on the road rather than how bright their lights are or how loud their horn is. If you ride very timidly and ride in the gutter then other drivers will pull out in front of you or will continually try and push their way past you. If you ride along with your indicators permanently on then the same thing will also happen. If you ride in other drivers blind spots then they simply won't know you're there. If you always pull to the front of a traffic queue and then drive off exactly at the speed limit then you'll just annoy other drivers. I'm not saying you do any of this but these are simply common issues with PTW riders.

Many motorcycles (and probably some scooters) use a number of options to make things more visible.

I like the flashing brake light system you can fit on most motorcycles... when you hit the brakes, it flashes 3 times before coming on solid.

Some people have fitted a headlight flasher also... not sure of the legality of this. I would like to get a second headlight mounted on the legshield in amber to make me more visible.

I also ride with my high beam on.

There's also your gear that can help. If you're riding a black bike with black clothing and a black helmet, then you're only showing people one color. My scoot is white (not my first choice in color, but it is what it is). I wear a red helmet, and either a red and black jacket or a black jacket (my mesh summer one, should have gotten a lighter color!).

I know on military bases they require riders to wear something like a hi-viz construction vest or like this:



One other thing.... I know a number of guys who ride really big Harleys will sometimes paint their helmets to resemble those of the state police (heck, they could be off duty troopers for all I know). It's a lot like putting a spotlight and push bar on your old Crown Vic, it gets people to notice you. Not sure if THAT would be effective for a scooter.

When it's dull and miserable, which to be fair is most of the time in Yorkshire, I wear a Hi Viz vest over my gear. Cost a couple of quid off Amazon or Fleabay.
Road positioning is important, and don't be bullied on the road.

I make it a point to observe others on the road. In carefully doing this, I have found that adding lights, especially multiple high intensity headlights, actually makes the bike less visible. Certainly, from a mile away it makes it more visible, but as the bike approaches I find that I can not see as much detail about the bike or its movement as I can when the bike is running standard lights. It is hard to determine its speed or placement on the road because I am blinded by the brightness.

I do believe that HiViz and reflective gear help a rider be seen. I bought a HiViz helmet two years ago and always wear it while riding. I even have a bright yellow jacket with reflective piping that I got from Flordian (through another) that I wear when conditions necessitate.

Just assume you are invisible, always. Texting drivers won't see you, drivers yakking on their phones may see you but they won't see you.

I wear bright colors or hi-viz. And I try to be aware of situations. Just this morning on the ride in to work I had to avoid a car turning in front of me, dodged some construction trucks parked in the middle of the road, and caught at least two drivers texting while driving.

When the light turns green, get behind the fastest driver and use it like a running back uses a blocker.
I had to use my big ass horn today. Dumb ass was exiting an entry way on the wrong side when I was turning in. Three blasts and I got the eye contact I was after 8)

Attached is a screen shot from my dash cam when following Bill Dog and Bill W. on another successful IB last October. That jacket mentioned above is shown as i was driving towards them from the rear. The lead scooter was just in front of the HiViz jacket. Note that you can't see the rider. The Vespa taillights were almost washed out because of other ambient light on the interstate. But, as I was watching them from behind I found it quite astonishing the difference that the reflective piping made. The reflective tape could be seen a couple of hundred yards prior to seeing the scoots. It convinced me to use it on any night ride. The actual HiViz material could not be seen in the darkness.

You have a good start by having a red scoot: red, yellow and white are supposed to be top colors from visibility viepoint.

Wearing other than black clothes is also a good idea.

HiViz vest over riding jacket increases your visibility also during daylight, alhough it doesn't do wonders at night like shown in flordian's vid.

Pieces of reflective tape are excellent for night time. I recommend marine quality tapes, they stick and shine long time also in rough wheather conditions (many brands available, but by googling e.g. 3M you'll get the idea).

all of the above as stated.

I have a yellow scooter, wear a white helmut and my jackets are either silver and white. I am adding reflective tape to my new top case and am looking at getting a high viz jacket for nighttime riding.

One of my scooter friends always wears bright yellow shirt and bright yellow safety vest.

Be careful and stay safe out there!

For me, lots of LEDs at night, and an orange vest when the weather permits...

Though I've found that people notice me a lot since I've put a camera on my helmet. People I've never met wave at me expecting to get on YouTube.

When I changed to yellow helmets I noticed drivers saw me more.
There was a significant change. 8)

Bright helmet colors, have 2 helmets and both are red, 1 has silver and black also but is very visible. I currently have a bright pink, with reflective tape summer wt jacket with lots of 'skid plates', remove them for washing, put them back in and that helps. Hi beams on the headlights most of the time. And ride defensive all the time.

I've been a big fan of the "Helmet Halo" ever since I followed another rider at night who had one. They stretch tight around the bottom of your helmet and are rubber backed so they can be moved between helmets. My last one lasted the life of my helmet.

http://www.reflectivedecals.com/haloebay.htm

You can be as visible as you want, but if the other cars aren't looking, it doesn't matter.
I have a white 3M reflective triangle sticker on the back of my helmet and my shoulder bag has a 3M white stripe built into the flap. That's about all I've done for extra visibility...in a passive sense. Most everything I do involves how I ride. Oh yeah...and my rain jacket is hi-viz yellow with 3M striping. (Ugh...I HATE yellow.) Thing is, I don't count on ANY of my gear to make me visible. They have to be looking to see it and not running on herd-brain or autopilot.

Looking as far ahead as you can (the 12-second rule), lane position, pulsing the brakes instead of steady application, lateral lane movement every so often, etc...it all helps. Road fatigue and the nature of human vision tends to ignore things that don't move. Make it move and make it change.

If you're on a two-lane road (one lane each way) and you're concerned about left turning cars: ride in the inside third of the lane to visually fill the gap between the car in front and behind. If you see a car wanting to pull out of a parking lot or driveway up ahead, ride in the right third to keep them from thinking your spot in traffic is empty.

Leave yourself room for an "out" with the car in front of you when you're in traffic. If you think your tail light might be confused with the car in front of you, pulse your brake levers to make your brake light flash a couple times as the car behind you approaches.

If the car behind you in traffic has been there a while and is starting to get a little too close for comfort, introduce a "lazy weave" for some lateral lane movement for a few seconds. Most likely, they're fatiguing and creeping up without realizing it because they're registering the bumper of the car in front of you instead of...you. Oftentimes, it helps wake them up and re-register YOUR rear tire as what's in front of them.

Etc, etc, etc.

howdy, , cheshire has it right. lateral or side to side movement helps drivers get a perception of distance and that movement gains the attention needed to avoid incursion into your space. also he well said about lane position so that drivers are aware you are behind a vehicle that otherwise might block thier view and tempt them to squirt through between vehicles and not realize you are there.

i also wear clothing, when riding, with reflective striping of some kind. two of my jackets are the safety yellow and one mesh jacket is black and grey with reflective striping and protective pads.

all the best
ken

Gotta think about daytime/nighttime differences.
A flouro yellow helmet shows well in the day - but is poor at night.
White is (supposed to be) the most visible colour throughout a whole 24hr cycle.
Also, there's a theory that a solid block of, say, white isn't as visible as one that has some stripes of a contrast colour to break it up (think bee/wasp markings).
For me, a white scoot, hi viz vest, and white helmet is my choice.
You can also do other things like being active in your lane (not staying for long periods of time in one position in the lane), as that theoretically makes you more noticeable.
I pay attention to other riders (and pedestrians) when I'm riding at dusk/night. There can be a massive difference in how visible other riders are depending on what measures they take. That informs my decisions.

I use a jacket that I used to use when I rode my bicycle to work. It is made by a company called "Illuminite". The jacket itself is hi-viz flouorescent yellow. It has reflective features imbedded in the fabric that essentially make my arms and torso light up like Las Vegas when light hits them. On hot days I wear a hi-viz vest with reflective tape on it. I can't ride my LX 50 at night in my state, it is illegal.

My Vespa GTS has the running lights kits from Scooterwest installed and the Admore light kit in the top case. I've ridden behind my husband on the Scarabeo which also has the Admore light kit installed and it makes a big difference in seeing him.

I also use black on black - reflects bright white tape on all our top cases. Also use it on the black scoots (BV and Sport City). Silver to white tape on my silver helmet. Hi-viz is good for daytime, especially hi-viz helmets but not so much at night as flordian mentioned. Reflective piping on riding gear is also surprisingly visible at night.

Yellow or white scooters are easier to see at night. Red at night might as well be black. Bright orange seems to be the most visible color.

Here's my practices...
- Solid bright color jacket, pants, and yellow Shoie modular helmet. I've read that helmets with decals look more like camouflage and not very visible. I've also read that black is the worst color. I also have a large reflective sticker on the back of my helmet, quite reflective at night.
- I ride with my high beam on at all times. I've never had anyone flash me. I don't ride at night much.
- I converted my turn signals into running lights, front and back. They are both yellow and on at all times except when I turn on the turn signal switch, and then they flash on/off. I designed my own. The Scooterwest conversion is easier and quicker than building my version. For the record, you can find my version here: https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic63198?highlight=running+lights
- I put an auxiliary LED rear/brake light on my license plate holder. Its quite bright. Much brighter than the OEM rear/brake light.

Things I haven't done but like...
- Last year I saw a woman riding a Piagio on the freeway with top case. She clamped a neon green hand towel between the top and bottom of the top case. Blowing in the breeze, it was really quite obvious and easily caught my attention.
- Headlight modulator. These really work in getting attention from people in from top you. I've read that 80% of all accidents are caused by things in front of you, rather than behind you. I put a flashing LED on my bicycle after reading about headlight modulators and it made a HUGE difference in minimizing the number of people turning in front of me.
- Brake light modulator that flashes the brake light when I pull the brake on.
- Replace the 5 Watt running light on the leg shield with a bright LED to augment the headlight. This is likely my next mod.


Hope that helps. Stay safe!

Miguel

here is my thoughts on being visible to others.

They don't see you period. Thats how you have to look at riding. You have to be on your game 100% of the time. You have to be looking, anticipating, for any and every thing.

The best thing you can do for yourself is training and more training.
Practicing and more practicing.

Take some advanced classes, they cost though but are soon worth it. they will get you totally in tune with your ride and yourself. Then practice what they taught you.

remember you are never seen by others EVER.

While some people swear by modulators - head or tail light I hate them. There is some evidence that while they may make you more visible to some people they can also cause drunks to fixate on the blinking lights. Other too have been known to fixate on blinking lights which maybe why you don't see as any of those highway sawhorses with blinking lights as you used to. I can't remember the last time I saw one.Some frequencies of modulating headlights can trigger epileptic seizures so IMHO they are more harmful than helpful.

It's real simple: all you need is a full light bar, along with front-and-rear wigwags, and dual-color blinding strobes with variable-pattern programming. No wait, that doesn't work, either.........

Whoa, wait a second here. I did a strobe project on my old GTS. It was awesome. Worked great. How do I know? I was flipped off more than a wooden Vespa clogging down the road. Wish Vespa didn't take away that strobe mount with the new ABS model. I'd still be pissing off the clueless cagers.

In remembrance to a scooter that got into your face .... Warning strobe light for Vespa GTS

Loud pipe.

I must disagree with two of my friends about their thoughts about being seen.

First, we are not invisible. We are seen whether wearing all black or sporting a lighthouse on our helmets. People do see us. And they mostly care about us.

I make it a point to be nice to fellow motorists. When someone is about to turn left in front of me, but waits for me to pass, I usually give them a friendly wave. If someone wants to beat me to the next light, I let them. (it doesn't happen often)

And strobe lights on a motorcycle or scooter are the dumbest things imaginable. When people get pissed off at a you, that is not good. That hurts the image of all two wheelers. Should you feel that you need them to be safe, maybe scooting is not for you.

Black, graphite, Midnight blue GTS scoots look fab in showrooms and photos etc, but are not helpful in being seen. I ride the 2012 orange supersport. I don`t even know if I like the color, but motorists seem to see me so I can dress to please myself. Its day glow orange.

I don't know, I've seen too many units, parked on the side of the roadway and running all lights at full tilt, still manage to get creamed by a motorist who then claims "I just didn't see it!"
That said, I do have a modulator on one of my bikes. It just makes me feel all gooder thinking that maybe someone actually will see me, maybe.

I've put reflective 2 inch tape on jackets and any backpacks I may use and I get reflective decals for the scoot and helmets plus reflective patches for my gear. Then I try to remember to drive like no one can see me.
The garish colors on jackets and helmets (IMO) only works during daytime.

US motorists and not very, as the researchers say, "PTW aware". In short, PTWs are such a rarity on most roads, the typical driver isn't looking for you in the first place. It's related to "selective attention".

There are 234 million cars on US roads and 9 million registered PTWs. Many of those PTWs are only used for recreational (occasional) purposes. Also, PTW ownership varies from region to region. Even if PTWs were distributed evenly across the nation, the odds of seeing a PTW versus a car on the road is probably about 1 in 50. Thus, your brains are simply not conditioned to looking for PTWs. You are far more likely to spot a Smart Car, which is just slightly larger than a PTW, but does, indeed, resemble a car.

In Greece are helmets compulsory?

I always wonder about this after travelling, as well, because if the Parisians -- who really seemed to come in a close second to the Romans on scooters -- are to be trusted, one wears lots of black. Fashionable, tight-fittiing black...with $300 shoes.

I'm struck by how much the hi viz stuff leaps out at me here in town, where, actually, it's only worn by a few cyclists and all the 14 year old boys, so, eventually, once we pay for said trip to Paris, I'm getting me some.

...which will make me even more of a freak in a town where the ptw fashion these days is shorts, wife-beater and sandals.

Yes, but in the several years since made so, there are still many riders who ignore the law. However, helmet wear is far more common now.

I love the anarchy and contempt for "the system" greeks show.
What happens on average to those who ride helmet free?

I'm just gonna guess the same thing that happens to the ones who don't pay their taxes.

I wear this helmet when it's not raining. Actually it causes accidents because people are looking at it and not the road. J have LED daytime running lights and a high Viz headlight. Also have a LED strip at the bottom of my plate holder that's synced with my brakes. I noticed that when i had my rear rack down you couldn't see my brake light very well. I try and wear a wild colored shirt on gray days also.

The Greeks are, with their taxes & avoidance showing the Germans (fuhrers of the EU)
the contempt they deserve.
Viva Greece

I bought the LED DRL conversion kit from Scooterwest for the front of my GTS. I also tinted the front legshield lenses with yellow fog light film which contrasts nicely with my red GTS, sort of an homage to Ferrari Le Mans racecars.

I've also added a LED kit from Admore lighting to my Givi V46 topcase. This gives me additional running, brake, and turn signals that are much higher than the ones on the body of the bike. I will typically pulse my brakes a couple of times manually to (hopefully) grab the attention of drivers behind me.

My white helmet had a couple of reflective decals, and my Cortech riding jacket and Tourmaster pants have reflective piping. I have a little bit of SOLAS reflective tape remaining that I will apply strategically to the scoot (and maybe my helmet).

This is a great discussion. Thanks to everyone for jumping in. Here is what I have summed up so far:

Drive defensively, like nobody can see you
lateral or side to side movement
Hiviz is okay during the day, but limited at night
Reflective tape \ paint is a big plus (I am ordering the Halo Reflective band)
Safety vest
Colorful or patterned clothing, helmets
Modulating lights are a hot topic. Maybe \ Maybe not
Ride with your high beams on
Many people agree on enhancing Head lights, tail lights, running lights, and case lights
Someone mentioned a louder pipe, but I don't think anyone mentioned a train horn or louder horn

Thanks

I wear high reflective vest day/night as well as having headlamp and brake light modulators on the bike. They have saved my bacon innumerable times.
I have the headlamp modulator on high beam.
It really works.
I've had on coming cages pull to the side of the road when I'm riding, so I know that they definitely do work. Least expensive and most effective mods I can think of.