HobbesOnTour wrote:In fairness, looking at the quoted text above, it refers to lights, Hi-Viz and a helmet "while transiting the port".
The only other safety info is to follow instructions of staff and walk the bike on and off. (Of course, there may be other instructions not quoted by the OP). Following staff instructions and walking the bike makes perfect sense to me.
It's possible the helmet/HiViz/Light is a rule of the Port operator. Whatever your thoughts on HiViz & Helmets they ar entitled to make their own rules. And sorry, but anybody heading abroad without working lights is not going to win any awards for most responsible cyclist.
I'd happily join a campaign to email the ferry company/port company to voice displeasure at the helmet rule, but I'd struggle to put my name to a complaint against HiViz and would refuse for lights.
As a car driver, when I entered France I had to have a HiViz vest for every person on the car, accessible without getting out of the car and an alcohol breath tester. Them's the rules.
Without opening up a whole helmet/HiViz fight, when someone suggests wearing one I believe a confrontational answer is not very helpful to getting them to reconsider their (on first glance appropriate) view. In fact, it tends to harden attitudes and in the long term is counter-productive in my opinion.
It is the law in France to have hi-viz in cars - so I have no problem with BF wanting this. It is the law (in certain circumstances) to wear hi viz in France and the law to have working lights. All that I have no problem with (though of course you will not see lights on 95% of French bikes...).