These are the things I frequently am and/or hope to be when riding my bicycle.
Winter is here, so I’m having no trouble meeting the “wet” condition. It’s been raining all week. The only energy my bike requires is the additional bananas I eat after riding to school. That, and the battery-sipping lights I have to use now that it’s dark all the time. But while I wear a helmet, bright colours and reflectors, and though I try to ride defensively, safety still seems difficult to guarantee.
This week a van nearly ran me over. He was on a side road, and jerked to a stop just short of my pedals. Then, walking to a friend’s flat, a car really did run a cyclist over. He was okay, but the car went straight over his front wheel and fork. That man was wearing reflectors and a helmet too, and had his bike lights a’blazin.
What can we do? I don’t doubt that cars have a difficult time seeing cyclists. From the side, cyclists are particularly invisible. What about helmets with reflectors or lights circling the whole head? Would it make a difference if bicycle lights were the same scale as headlights? Why isn’t glowing spandex widely available?
And does anyone know a good person in product design? I have a few ideas I’d like to discuss with them.
Update: I entered one of my ideas in the SIE New Ideas Competition (www.sie.ac.uk) and am now headed to nationals. Let’s see if this thing has legs!