An 'intelligent' bicycle is near completion in the Netherlands.
The cycle is designed to warn the user of a potential accident.
An array of electronic devices dotted around the bike will send signals when there is an impending danger.
Radar is mounted below the handlebars and a camera is fixed in the rear mudguard. These are linked through a computer on the bike which makes the saddle vibrate when other cyclists approach from behind and the handlebars vibrate if obstacles appear ahead.
A computer tablet can also be installed and this will flash brightly if there is an approaching obstacle in the bicycle’s path, such as a lamppost, or if another cyclist comes up from behind intending to pass.
The bicycle’s electrical motor can reach a top speed of 25 kph (16 mph).
The specialised bike could be on the market in the next two years and cost between €1,700 euros and €3,200 euros each.
It was developed for the government by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) which said that the system is using technology already used in the auto industry.
The Dutch government is keen to reduce the number of accidents and deaths among elderly cyclists. Last year, 184 cyclists were killed, of which 67% were over 65, and the previous year also counted an overwhelming majority of elderly among the 200 deaths.
There are already 18 million bicycles for a nation of 17 million people and 25,000 kms of cycle paths.
Comments
Or a lorry - not seeing you, the cyclist - manoeuvres across in front of your bike.
Have our Netherlands friends factored in some sort of alarm in the lorry or car door that, like police radar traps, would warn of flying cyclists approaching ?
Then there is 'nickability'. Is all this electronic gear detachable to take safely into the house at night - or hard wired into the bike ?