While most of us are complaining...this young gal actually did something!

Laser-made bike lane could save lives

June 15, 2011

I don't know what this thing is, or how it might attach to my scooter, but it looks like someone is thinking in the right direction.

This device attaches to the front of a bike and projects a laser image onto the road ahead of the bike, projecting the bike into a drivers field of vision. In all intent, actually giving the bike greater/longer visual mass within a bike lane. Projecting it ahead of the bike on curves and corners.

I am not sure how this might work for scooters or motorcycles on the open road, but it seems to be going in the right direction. Here is the rest of the article:

A safety device that projects a bright green laser image of a bike on to the road ahead – alerting motorists to its presence – could be a life saver.

Developed by Emily Brooke, a student at the University of Brighton in England, the invention has won her a place at Babson College in Massachusetts in the US, on an entrepreneurship programme, the university said.

Her innovation, BLAZE, is a small, battery-powered device that is attached to the handlebars of bicycles, motorcycles or scooters, and projects a laser image on to the road ahead.

The bright green bicycle symbol travels ahead of the cyclist, alerting others to its presence. The image can be flashing to make it more visible and can be seen "even in daylight", the university said.

Emily plans to work on developing the product in Massachusetts, it added.

"I wanted to tackle the issue of safety of cyclists on city streets by increasing the visibility, footprint, and ultimately the awareness of the bicycle," said Brooke, a final-year product design student.

"Eighty per cent of cycle accidents occur when bicycles travel straight ahead and a vehicle manoeuvres into them. The most common contributory factor is 'failed to look properly' on the part of a vehicle driver. The evidence shows the bike simply is not seen on city streets," she said.

"Even when lit up like a Christmas tree a bicycle in a bus's blind-spot is still invisible. With BLAZE, you see the bike before the cyclist and I believe this could really make a difference in the key scenarios threatening cyclists' lives on the roads."

Emily worked with road safety experts, Brighton & Hove City Council, the Brighton & Hove Bus Company and driving psychologists in developing BLAZE, the university said.