by frog
A colleague of mine sent this to me. It is apparently a laser projection around the cyclist to make car drivers aware of the clearance required by the cyclist. Brilliant concept, although I agree with one of the commentators at the Dustbowl site that perhaps red isn’t the best colour given the huge percentage of colour blind people, specifically to red. Still, if they build it, the people will come.
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
“Still, if they build it, the people will come.” Really? So if I build a six-lane toll road between Blackball and Stockton I will become mega-rich because “build it, the people will come”? Methinks Frog should steer clear of real estate and transport infrastructure. Both are totally dependent on Location, Location, Location! (and improved Access, Access, Access! is half of what makes a Location, Location, Location! a profitable Location, Location, Location!)
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“If they build it, people will come”
Presumably this only works at night?
Are there thousands of people lining up to cycle at night, but the only thing stopping them is the absence of a laser system?
Will you be putting your own money into this, or will you demand I do?
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I thought it was a great idea, much better than painting up the street and puts the onus for the cost onto the cycle rider rather than the ratepayer who may or mat not ride a bike.
I thought it was a good idea a WEEK ago when I blogged it. But then you fellas were always a bit behind eh!
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/?q=content/cool-inventions
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If that cyclist was using a decent set of rear lights an expensive public system would be unwanted; you could get much the same result with two large lights on spring loaded outriggers. His lack of rear lights is also giving us sensible cyclists a bad name.
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A decent set of reflectors would be nearly as effective and much cheaper to install and maintain.
I don’t know where this cyclist is riding, but both lights and reflectors are required by New Zealand law.
Trevor.
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Well it seems only whaleoil understands that the laser system is on the bicycle. To the rest I say have a good look at the photo.
However there is still a need for marked cycle lanes and, yes Trevor29 , the cyclist still needs to comply with NZ law but this could be changed if trials show the laser system is more effective. – In England it is still illegal to use only flashing LED lights even though they are more visible – the law often doesn’t keep up with technology
To Frog I say best make things clearer to prevent silly comments and I do not understand “If they build it, people will come”. If they can make it at an affordable price people will buy it.
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As a driver, I want light reflected or directed AT ME from the bicycle, not at the ground. It’s a neat concept, but I won’t see a cyclist using it until my chances of missing him are not appreciably different from zero. At which point I may learn how big he expects his safety zone should be, but he will discover how inadequately he has signaled WHERE it is.
I love clever gadgets, but I don’t think this will do much more than make pretty lines that nobody but the cyclist can realistically detect at any useful distance. Too clever is dumb.
BJ
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seems to me the idea is to alert the following traffic of the cyclist’s presence & “zone of terror” but this particular cyclist seems to be negating the effect by riding on the wrong side of the road & hence facing the oncoming traffic instead of away from them
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Well andrew it is obvious that the cyclist is in a country where they drive on the right.
To BJ I say, unless the photo is a lie, the laser light on the road looks to be adequately visible to motorists. The laser light becomes visible when it reflects from a surface and like I said ‘if trials show the laser system is more effective’ it is a good system. I do agree that the cyclist would be even more visible if they had a light and/or a reflective jacket. Finally BJ being too negative is dumb too!
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Unfortunately the light on the road is only likely to be visible when the motorist is virtually on top of the cyclist. Part of the problem is the angle that the motorist observes the road around the cyclist – very acute. Most of the laser light will go up where it can’t be seen by anyone not in a plane or a multi-story building. For safety without excessive power consumption, the flashing red LEDs are hard to beat.
And yes I did realise that the system was on the bike. If you look clearly, you can see the laser light beams converging under the seat. As an educational aid, it may have value. As a safety aid, invest your money elsewhere.
Trevor.
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Yes Trevor the flashing LEDs are hard to beat. I stick by my qualifying statement viz; ‘if trials show the laser system is more effective it is a good system’. Regards where most of the laser light will be reflected, it is being projected onto a rough surface so it will be scattered and presumably this will make it visible by motorists. I would like to know how high the power consumption is to achieve a safe result. In conclusion I find it is foolish to reject something based on assumptions.
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Andrew
- lots of countries in Europe aren’t in the ‘keep left’ rule, neither is the USA.
I agree with BJ –
this is a cute gimmick, but green lanes for buses and cyclists on our roads are much safer than something which isn’t a permanent marking of cyclists right to be safe in their journey – having cycled around Wellington, and Palmerston North in my schoolgirl days, I’d say it has got progressively more dangerous to be two-wheeled traffic, as SUV’s and their owners develop a default setting of overconsumption of highway and road space.
shameless reduplication:
http://greenvoices.wordpress.com/2008/10/26/consumption-and-growth-the ory/
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I think it’s absolutely brilliant, your own portable bicycle lane. What will people think of next. There’s nothing to say one couldn’t have flashing LEDs as well, they are excellent. But what’s great about it is that it gives the cyclist ownership of that bit of road whilst he’s using it, and that should be obvious to the car drivers, who are apt to dispute their road space with the cyclists, and in that situation we know who’s going to win.
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A safety device that gives the illusion of safety to the cyclist is in many ways worse than nothing at all. The problem is lack of efficiency – the laser light – impressive as it is – is not as efficient as alternatives. This is not an uneducated assumption but basic engineering. The light is shining on a road surface that is uneven and of unknown albedo. When you need it most (wet nights), the albedo is likely to be lowest. While the strips may be 6 feet long, the motorist’s view of the strips is more like 6 inches, so very little of the light ends up heading towards the motorist. Add a headlight shining at the motorist from another car and the motorist will be lucky to see the projection.
The other small detail is that the projector is likely to cost more than the bicycle. Projecting a simple line is relatively easy, but a pattern such as a bicycle and other lines is much more expensive – or inefficient.
Trevor.
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That’s photoshopped.
A. The apparent projection comes from under the seat. The lines on either side reach forward evenly to a point in front of the front wheels. The beam should intercept the rider’s leg on the left side.
B. The cyclist is at a slight angle within the “projected” lane. This is not possible either.
I could go on but won’t. I repeat the point. I will not see any markings on the ground around the cyclist until I am right on top of the poor sod. Literally. This is as poorly thought out as anything I care to analyze. If you MUST do something with lasers, a full on hologram of an Abrams tank would cause any motorist to avoid hitting the bloody thing. More practically, a large pillar or cone, but we are talking about really exorbitant power expenditure and complexity here.
More and brighter LEDS and reflectors would help more.
What you can’t do is pretend. This is pretend.
BJ
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I think you are right BJ. The pattern is also too neat. It should show more distortion due to the uneven road surface.
I hate being suckered in.
Trevor.
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Mostly motorists do not dispute space with cyclists. Mostly accidents occur when the cyclist is not seen soon enough.
BJ
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Well I have to mostly agree now with Trevor29 and bjchip. It looks like the photo is faked. Frog better go back to the source and check if it is a con. That is, have there been any successful trials of the system?
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This does seem to be just a desihn study.
http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/01/16/stay-outta-my-lane/
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My first thought was, ‘What a great idea’. But the problem is that the light and his ‘virtual lane’ only extends about 2 meters behind him. So if I was driving a car, I wouldn’t see him until I’m right on top of him.
For this to be effective you’d need to project your lane at least 10 meters in not more behind you and you’d probably have to make it brighter and more visible. So you’d need a very powerful battery pack in the back.
What can I say, great idea that is unfortunately completely impractical.
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I totally agree with Rob. It’s kinda impractical especially if the cars are moving at a fast speed. Comparatively, dynamo powered rear lights (coupled by other safety measures such as wearing light colored clothings or vests) is a much economical and efficient approach.
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It’s dificult to judge this system from only a single photograph. Perhaps it is intended to be used with reflectors, lights and high visibilty clothing. I would be concerned about the positioning of the laser projection. I agree that it is an interesting concept. There are some equally valid reasons why this could be a complete waste of resources! How is it powered?
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