High-visibility vests are the new blazers

Back in 2009 I quoted a post from the Conservative blog Curly's Corner Shop:

We had passed three “lollipop ladies”, two street cleaners, four delivery men, three window cleaners, one telephone repair man, and two satellite dish installers, all dressed in the uniform of HM Prison Great Britain and glumly wearing their yellow jackets. 

Bloody hell, I thought, this must be what it’s like in an open prison, and woe betide anyone who dares to go without, and I wondered just how many years away is the regulation that states that ALL members of the public must wear a high visibility vest when venturing out of doors?

Since then things have only got sillier, with high-visibility vests now commonly warn by teachers, children or both on school trips.

And they are not just worn out of doors. Yesterday Roger Williams tweeted a picture of himself and a party from a primary school in his constituency taken inside the Palace of Westminster. The children were all in high-visibility vests.

How long before parents or schools who allow children out of doors - or indoors - without high-visibility vests are seen as irresponsible?

This is a useful reminder of how quickly something that seems ridiculous can become the new common sense.