Gizmo that automatically sends your location to emergency services

[jonny jeez]

What, Wales?

Yes, Wales is Lovely.

Apart from the lack of phone signal

and the rain

oh, and the tourists

 

[sidevalve]

Hmm, nice idea but what if you just drop the helmet ? Seems a bit too dependant on you having a perfect memory ans always checking to see if you need to cancel.

 

[Paul_L]

be interesting to see what constituted detecting a crash. If you hit a pot hole hard, or were riding on some rough off road stuff, could it be that the jolt on the phone replicated a crash. Could have the emergency boys and girls chasing round the bloody countryside for hours.

Is there really a need for this? How many cases have there been where a cyclist has been seriously injured or killed purely because no-one knew where they were? I'm sure this does happen but not enough to scare folk into parting cash to buy a product.

When i go out on my own, i always plan a route and stick to it and let 'er indoors know where i'm going. In the unlikely event of a crash that leaves me stranded at least someone will know where i was heading.

 

[Cyclopathic]

I would like something that could send your gps location to the emergency services. I've been out and about and not known exactly what road I was on or what the last or next village was so I would like a phone that just sent my location to the ems when I rang them. It might not be oneself that one has to ring for.
As people have pointed out the accident detection part of this sounds very problematic.

 

[mangaman]

As benb said, I think it has some merit as an idea.

The technical stuff is sortable as long as it loses the phone element and is tried and tested.

I fear it will then be very expensive and a solution to a problem that rarely occurs, but who knows?

 

[Grizzly]

I would like to know how it contacts the emergency services. I know the ambulance service and they have trouble finding a location when they are given an address, lat and long would be impossible, a grid ref would be a huge challenge. It costs money to get a position from a mobile signal, the more masts that are used (to get a more accurate position) the more it costs and that would have to be done by the Police. I don't want to sound too negative but if it's going to cost the emergency services to use it they simply wont.

 

[Mo1959]

Sounds good in theory. I live on my own and nobody knows when I set out or where I am going. Could be lying in a ditch for hours before my next door neighbour might notice I wasn't around.

 

[slowmotion]

There aren't that many places without a phone signal these days.

You really would be surprised how many rural areas have non-existant mobile coverage. A huge number of places that are off the gas network have none.

Don't ask....

 

[MarkF]

You can get a mint Brietling "Emergency" watch for £2.5k, it'll still be worth £2.5k in several years. Yes, watches are a good investment and always have been, despite moving in horological circles for over 25 years, I've never once read or heard of an owner deliberately activating their Brietling emergency signal.

What will the helmet gizmo thingy be worth second hand? That's assuming an owner is able to attract a gullible enough buyer?

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

You can get a mint Brietling "Emergency" watch for £2.5k, it'll still be worth £2.5k in several years.

Will it still be worth 2.5k when I have come of my bike and run the watch along some tarmac road surface? - or are we saying that if its in a mint, unworn condition it would still be worth 2.5k

 

[srw]

Sounds good in theory. I live on my own and nobody knows when I set out or where I am going. Could be lying in a ditch for hours before my next door neighbour might notice I wasn't around.

And you could be abducted by aliens or win the lottery. Each scenario is about as likely.

 

[Drago]

The dibble have no means of tracing mobile signals, have to rely on data from the phone companies plotted onto a dibble mapping system. Vthe problem is many mobile phone cells aren't directional, or "sectored", but are omnidirectional, or "Onni", do more often than not you end up with a circle ir eclipse a mile or more across, sometimes even big enough to cover a while town. At the other end of the scale ifcrhecsutuation is favourable it might be a radius of 200m.

So far these in car and personal systems are crap, and do nothing but waste emergency services time.

 

[Mo1959]

And you could be abducted by aliens or win the lottery. Each scenario is about as likely.

Stupid remark. No comparison. I cycle on mainly country roads. All it needs is someone to squeeze past me on a corner and knock me off. Could be lying for a while before anyone may notice. Whereas, I can't say I've noticed many aliens around.

 

[snorri]

Personal Locator Beacons which report via satellite and with a battery that holds its charge for years are already available without the need to also carry a cycle helmet and mobile phone.
http://www.sartech.co.uk/home
The system described in the OP does seem prone to a high level of false calls.

 

[Rob3rt]

Will it still be worth 2.5k when I have come of my bike and run the watch along some tarmac road surface? - or are we saying that if its in a mint, unworn condition it would still be worth 2.5k

I think that is self explanatory!

Plus I think it is a bit silly to be comparing these two in the same context, I only brought it up to highlight similar idea's have and continue to be used in other circles.