Cscottdavis

1. What new features should be added to bicycles to improve safety for the cyclist?

Anything to improve visibility. Reflective paint, glow in the dark paint, ways to mount lights to pedals, crank arms, wheel spokes to combine motion and light to help attract the attention of drives.

Way to make a loud noise. Air horn/motorcycle horn of at least 110 db. Though to be honest, the louder the better.

2. What would you look for when choosing a safety product or a flag?

Safety product: Ease of use. Lack of maintenance. Durability in rain or snow. Should not interfere (or minimal interference) with my ability to carry baskets and bags on my bicycle.

Flag: Ability to easily attach and remove from the bicycle. A blinky light of at least 350 lumens at the top would be ideal.

3. Would you prefer a magnet or clip-on pole for the safety flag or safety product?

Not sure. Ease of use is more important than any particular system.

4. What distance would you want it to expand to?

Perhaps height of eye for a Ford F-150 or other large SUV.

5. Would you want an expandable or retractable safety product or flag?

This wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me. But might be helpful for storage when not in use. I can’t imagine wanting to bring a large flag into an office work environment when commuting.

6. Would you want a proximity sensor on your flag or product?

Maybe, but probably not. A radar system compatible with Garmen’s system might be of interest to others. If Bosch is successful in networking their automobile systems so cars can sense and avoid each other, one can foresee a future when bicycles could also participate in the network.

7. What would you want a sensor to do to keep you safe?

Other than make a loud noise to alert the driver – and that might cause the cyclist his own issues if unaware of the motor vehicle – the only useful function I can see is to integrate with existing cycling radar systems.

8. What should a car driver do when they see a cyclist in the street?

The most important thing is to maintain at least three feet of clearance from the cyclist at all times. A pothole or bit of road debris that even a small car would never notice with modern suspension can send a cyclist head over heels.

The second most important thing to honor crosswalks and signals at intersections checking for pedestrians that cyclists that may be attempting to exercise their right of way.

9. What is your greatest concern when riding your bicycle?

Automobiles in general. Intersections in particular. Right turn on red only works safely if drivers check not only for other cars that might hit them from the left but also for pedestrians (including me if I’m walking my bike across a busy intersection) that might delusionally believe that the legal right of way will keep them safe. Ironically, this would also protect the driver from rear ending another car immediately after going through the intersection.

10. What safety tips should you be aware when riding at night?

When I ride at night, I feel pretty safe. I have a rear facing blinky light and headlight mounted on my helmet which makes me pretty hard to miss. Whenever possible, I do try to avoid 10 P.M. to 2 A.M. because of drunk drivers.

11. How much would you pay for a safety flag/product that is expandable?

That depends. For just a flag, not much probably $50 tops and if the mounting system isn’t super clever or convenient probably only $25. For a flag with a 350 lumen (or more blinky light), I would pay more, depending on mounting system up to $100. With a sensor and integration into the Garmin radar system, I would pay a price in alignment with gamins rear facing radar lights/cameras.

12. (note: see above)

13. What is your age, gender, riding location?

55 year old. Male. Central Maryland – suburban but within commuting distance of Baltimore and trains that can take me and my bicycle to DC. I use my bicycle as a car replacement for short trips – less than 10 miles to grocery store, post office, library, restaurants, etc.

14. Did I forget anything else?

First, I think that riding with a flag is viewed as something that only children do so you may have a steep cultural bias that prevents your product from getting wide acceptance. But I – for one – am open to the idea if it is convenient, not terribly expensive, and provides even some marginal safety gains.

Second, I really wish someone would look at body armor options. There is a lot of seemingly good body armor for motorcycle and car racers, but the expense is crazy and the fitment requirements seem difficult to meet unless on is very knowledgeable or is buying local with some very good customer service. To be honest, an inch of padding on the sides of the knees and sides of the hips could be the thing that saves the cyclist a couple of years of physical therapy after even a low speed interaction with a car driver.