Originally Posted by
jppe
if you were to have an accident someone would be immediately alerted. I’d also be interested in gps tracking too.
maybe I could use the find my phone app??
Most (if not all) Garmin Edge bike computers/gps's manufactured in the past several years have incident detection.
On a Garmin, Incident Detection means that if the device thinks you've been in an accident, it sounds an alarm for a few seconds and then if you don't stop it, it sends an alert via SMS to the person you have listed as the recipient of incident alerts. The message will contain a link to a map with the GPS coordinates so that you can be located easily.
The incident detection feature can have false positives. One time I stopped quickly in my driveway after hitting the driveway entrance transition bump between the road and the end of the driveway. Apparently that two inch bump along with a sudden (but fully in control) stop was enough to make the GPS think I'd had a wreck. It almost texted my brother, but I stopped it before it could. Nevertheless, even with some false positives, it's still a useful feature.
Garmin also sells rear lights that have proximity radar built in. Those devices will warn the rider when a vehicle is approaching from behind. If you don't need another light, Garmin also makes a model that only has the radar sensor, no light.
If you search you'll also find that someone makes a rear camera / rear light combination unit. It's not cheap, but could capture on camera an incident of road rage, harassment, or being rear-ended. In the front, camera options abound; gopro, and other manufacturers make cameras that easily mount to bicycles.
Ultimately there is nothing that will guarantee someone's not going to hit you. I think the best defense really is visibility. There will be the idiots who intentionally endanger or harass, but mostly increasing visibility is going to increase safety. I have a rear light that is very bright. I leave it flashing anytime I'm riding, day or night. I have a forward facing light that I use in flashing mode during the day, and as a headlight at night. And when I'm riding at night I also have an amber side-light. There are several on the market. I'm pretty visible.