Reflective traffic vests

[ratpatrol]

In central florida, I see so many FHP out trying to direct traffic..usually at sundown; in the brown uniforms not wearing their vests...do they really think thoses of us in our POV's can see them? Not usually...It 's usually some 'wet behind the ears' kid, when I pass them, but not only is it FHP, it is the county Too.. usually polk or Oscelola doing stupid things like having their vest on..(good) then it starts to rain and they put their raincoat over their vest and contunue to direct traffic (bad) ...do you really think we can see you better this way??
Of course not!!! But even in My smallmousehouse, I know that I would get my butt chewed, a severe talking to..by a supervisor if I did anything so Stupid on the job as that would get me killed, while 'playing in Traffic'?
mickey

[SRT936]

I couldn't answer the poll because I wear mine religously. The ones weve got are soft cloth vest that are ANSI level 2. They fit well and are not a hassle to wear at all. A few neighboring agencies have gone as far as to deny worker's comp claims for officer injured on the side of the highway while not wearing the vest.

[ratpatrol]

Well the poll is just an after thought... but when i first started, ; we never did wear them on Graveyard, because they were these cheap, crappy things. and besides, we did have the reflective gloves and wands..so at least we had something..but peer preasure won out, because we would point to Orange county, and say hey...look what they have, and the crap that we have, and finally we got better equiptment

[firestone88]

Pretty much all of us got yellow ANSI II vests last winter when we all bought the new 5.11 jackets (they came with it for free!!). I used to keep mine draped over the passenger seat and would only wear it when it was raining or the weather was bad. It was also so damned bright, you could see it from outside of my vehicle, too. So it helped.

The thing eventually fell apart and broke. I would have bought a new one, but I noticed I was the only one in the department who actually used the thing. Everyone else pretty much just crammed them into their trunks and forgot about them. I would catch a lot of crap if I started wearing mine to accidents. :shrug:

[WHC166]

We are required to wear them per departmental policy and state mandate. If you don't wear it you will be denied workers comp coverage and/or death benefits.

[John from Maryland]

I make a point of wearing mine when directing traffic (which, being a sergeant, isn't that frequent an event). Our dark blue uniforms are not the most noticeable at night.

I suspect many officers get out at an accident scene without intending to direct traffic. As events unfold, they step into the roadway to direct traffic, but have left their ANSI vest back in the cruiser.

[Kycop28]

I keep mine on my passenger side seat and I always forget to grab it. I feel comfortable with it but still the idiots don't slow down.

[AggiePhil]

Yeah there should have been an option in the poll for those of us who DO wear them. I keep mine wedged in between my seat and the B pillar and put it on anytime I'm directing traffic or when I'm at an accident scene that is out in the roadway. I also have a whistle attached to my traffic vest in case I need to really get some idiot's attention.

[Adelaide_Cop]

We are required to wear them per departmental policy and state mandate. If you don't wear it you will be denied workers comp coverage and/or death benefits.

Ditto...

But to put it simply - It's a matter of safety!

Especially for you folks in the Northern Hemisphere where the winter weather can be extreme!