I spend a great deal of my time on streets where some, and at times the majority, of the people are wearing Hi-Vis clothing. Welcome to the motorcentric world where the Careless controllers of the heavy, fast vehicles expect the Carless to stick out like a sore thumb.
The Highway Code joins in:
Rules for Pedestrians
Help other road users to see you. Wear or carry something light-coloured, bright or fluorescent in poor daylight conditions. When it is dark, use reflective materials (e.g. armbands, sashes, waistcoats, jackets, footwear), which can be seen by drivers using headlights up to three times as far away as non-reflective materials.
I think the photo above shows rather well how the Highway Code authors would like school uniform coats to look.
Let's see what views the Governing Bodies and Headteachers of local schools hold:
Archbishop Tenison's School, North Lambeth
Outdoor Coat: Plain black – decoration and badges are not allowed.
Lilian Baylis School, North Lambeth
Black coat with no logos
London Nautical School, North Lambeth
Black or Navy Coat
So, that's clear then. The schools want their pupils to look stylish and smart in dark colours, rather than walk around dressed like traffic cones.
Is it irresponsible of the schools to expect motorists to be capable of seeing a normally dressed person, or irresponsible of drivers to drive in a manner which doesn't allow them to notice normally dressed people?.(and dogs and cats etc.)