Gordon Graham
Category: Law Enforcement

Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol. And Today’s Tip deals with the Below 100 initiative ‘Wear your vest’ officer-safety tenet.

Wearing a high-visibility vest may seem like a nuisance. But there is a simple reason to wear it: they make you more visible to motorists!

Usually when we think of wearing our vests, we automatically assume we’re talking about body armor. Many times we are; but there is another vest that can save your life: your high-visibility vest.

I’ve been following the numbers for years and we’ve been averaging one public safety death per month due to roadway incursions. Many of these involve officers being struck by vehicles while outside their patrol cars. Wearing a high-visibility vest may seem like a nuisance. But there is a simple reason to wear it: they make you more visible to motorists!

Think of the chaos and confusion often associated with the typical accident scene- mangled cars, big red fire trucks, ambulances and police cars all with overhead lights on. There are tow trucks, firefighters, paramedics and cops rushing around. There’s a reason for all the bright lights–visibility. We want them to be seen. And their design does exactly that: draws peoples’ attention to them. But there’s a downside to all of this- it draws attention AWAY from us as well.

Motorists distracted by all this may not notice you even if you are directly in their field of vision. Wearing your brightly colored reflective vest is one way for you to draw their attention to you.  

Make sure that your high-vis vest is a part of your daily gear bag.

And that is Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Gordon Graham signing off.