2-wheel laserlight

Bicyclists face some of the same challenges in traffic as motorcyclists. Failure-to-yield right-of-way being a shared cause of accidents for both. Root cause can often be traced to failure to see and identify the approaching bike.
I came across this article about a product that projects an image onto the ground ahead of the bicycle. The idea is to give pedestrians and drivers a warning that a bicycle is approaching.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/07...-laserlight-makes-cyclists-safer-on-road.html

One of the things I didn't like about the design is the nearly arbitrary choice of 20ft distance the projection is aimed at. "Half the length of a bus." No basis in physics or human engineering to select an optimum distance.
Another thing I have to wonder is if a person would see the projection and focus on it, thus completely missing the approaching bicycle altogether.

If a bicycle is moving at 13mph, that gives just over one second for a texting-while-walking pedestrian to notice the green laser image go by and let their dog-like focus register "green squirrel !", track the direction which it went and step into the path of the bicycle. Distracted is still distracted.

Maybe the idea and product has merit. Their installation onto Citibikes may yield some data, but crash avoidance data is hard to collect. Maybe there will be a reduction in crashes, especially at nighttime. If so, then this product might prove to be more gadget than gimmick.

Perhaps an arrow pointing in the direction of the bike would help the "tracking the green squirrel" you mention, at least make them change the direction in which they look. "What's the arrow pointing at?"

Plus I think you need two images, a first for "huh what was that ?" And a second for "oh glad I saw that!"
Maybe add a sound device that people recognize the Doppler effect as something coming closer, if there's a freq that suits bike speeds.

I just wouldn't trust a device to make other people watch out for me.
Else there wouldn't be ambulances getting hit with lights on and sirens blaring.


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Lots of forklifts these days have blue lights shining on the ground about 20 feet behind them. I've watched pedestrians see the light and stop, other forklifts see the light and stop. The lights do work, but not so sure how effective outside a restricted environment.

Is this device actually bright enough to make a difference in bright Texas daylight?

No. Works in a warehouse because most have crappy lighting and a light grey or white concrete floor on which blue shows up pretty well. Outside? Not even close. Typical of wishful thinkers with delusions of intelligence to think ANYTHING will make people totally irresponsible about themselves or others safer. People introduced to such devices typically trust their devices and become even more at risk due to enhanced personal irresponsibility.

About the only thing that enhances personal responsibility is allowing the suffering of the logical and natural consequences of the acts of an individual. That way one who hurts self stops making self suffer. One who hurts another gets a good beating and stops making others suffer, or loses everything in a law suit.

Very effective. Just google discipline "natural consequences" Of course, this info is mostly for controlling children, but people who repeatedly hurt themselves and/or others are really still children, no matter their chronological ages.

I don't make this stuff up. If more people studied such things and learned more effective ways to interact with those who harm themselves and others, instead of believing in delusions and wishful thinking and profiting from problems themselves and attacking those who seek an effective improvement in society without personal profit, well, the world would be a much better place.

Ain't gonna happen.

NHTSB says the auto driver "SEES" the bike, cycle, pedestrian, but does not "REGISTER A THREAT"- They are not fearful of a collision with something that can't HURT them, so they don't consciously note the 'non-threat'.
ONE EXCEPTION noted by NHTSB- If the motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian looks like a POLICE OFFICER- Black/White for the motorcycle is the safest colors.
A woman bicycle rider was hit by a landscaper's trailer. He knew she was there, but swerved to avoid a collision with another truck. She was then run over by a Mercedes that did not stop.

KenH said:

People introduced to such devices typically trust their devices and become even more at risk due to enhanced personal irresponsibility.

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Same thing with every major advancement in automobile safety. Seat belts, airbags, heavy advertisement of crash ratings, ect. People tend to take more risks and drive less safely knowing they'll probably be fine if something does happen. As such, accident rates go up, but per capita, injuries go down. But on the whole, while the odds of survival are better, people roll the dice a LOT more often, so total injuries goes up. Numerous studies have proven this.

This bike-light thing is nothing more than a gimmick. Sure it's completely invisible during the day, and as said, people just don't really see bicycles as a crash threat. If a driver has to choose between hitting another car and 30lbs of aluminum, guess which they're going for.

It'll be interesting to see how the coming autonomous cars handle things like this.

RWhitehouse said:

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It'll be interesting to see how the coming autonomous cars handle things like this.

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Autonomous cars will be able to drive past such problems and hit or be hit by nothing. Just ask the people wanting to make a buck requiring everyone to spend $thousands on them.