Hi, it's cool that you are taking this on as a project.
As many others have mentioned in this forum, cyclist safety most often means protection from cars. It looks like that in the EU in 2019, 72% of cyclist deaths were caused by motor vehicles (cars + trucks + buses + motorcycles), so this is a very reasonable concern.
My view is that the biggest safety issue is not having physical barriers between myself and cars when I ride my bike. I'm not sure if you're constrained to designing products with cyclists as a target audience or not. But I think that changing our public infrastructure is the best way to make cycling safer.
To answer your other questions:
Safety products I use: I use a bunch of lights, mainly. The headlight mainly helps illuminate the road in front of me and alert oncoming vehicles (cars mostly, sometimes bikes) of my presence. I use tail lights and other visibility lights to make sure drivers behind me can see me and not drive into me. I use a helmet in case of a crash.
Feedback on your ideas:
A rearview mirror-esque system: I know of riders who use a clip-on mirror on their helmet or glasses. They seem to like these. I don't think they are too popular. I tried one once and did not like it at all. The mirror was small and I found it about as easy to just turn my head to see what was behind me.
An indicator system: I don't see a lack of turn indication as being a big source of safety issues. Sometimes this is a problem if a group of cyclists are riding together and somebody makes an abrupt turn without signaling. But I think these situations are rare.
I hope this helps, and good luck with your project!
Phil
Hi everyone!
I am a Product Design student taking on the task of improving Commuter cyclist safety for my Final Year Project.
My aim is to create a product that will reduce the occurrence of cyclist accidents in the urban commuter environment. I am hoping to gain some direct insight into the issues that commuter cyclists feel are most important. I would also love to share the progress of my Final Year Project with you all and I will gladly welcome any and all constructive criticism along the way.
So with that outta the way...
To those who are interested, I would like to ask a few things:
- What are the biggest safety issues you feel you face as a commuter cyclist?
- Have you/Do you use any safety products and if so, do you have any favorites (or least favorites) and why?
- If you don't use safety products then why not? Too expensive? Annoying? Etc.
- Have you any ideas for features that you would find useful for commuter bike safety (I know there'll be a few funny ones and I can't wait to read them but it would be awesome to have some serious ones too!)
The features I am currently considering implementing in my design are;
- A rearview mirror-esque system that allows you to see what is happening behind you without having to look over your shoulder (considering implementing into a helmet or maybe handlebar-mounted system)
-As a follow on function from the above idea; there could be a vibration/light/sound alert that would draw riders attention
- An indicator system that can either be controlled via bar-mounted buttons/dedicated grips with incorporated buttons/or synced with a navigation system that automatically turns indicators on when coming to junction
Let me know what you think! Really appreciate any input and I hope you all have an amazing day!!!
