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Bike-mounted sensor could boost the mapping of safe cycling routes

Studies have shown that many people don't commute by bike due mainly to a fear of being hit by cars. A new bike-mounted proximity sensor has been designed to help such folks, by objectively telling them which streets are the safest for cyclists.

The prototype device simply replaces the bike's existing left-side handlebar plug, where it uses two infrared-light-based time-of-flight sensors to monitor the spaces directly beside and immediately behind the bicycle. The idea is that over a relatively short period of time, readings gathered from multiple ProxiCycle users could be used to paint a realistic picture of just how dangerous various streets actually are. They recorded 2,050 close passes in that time, with the majority of the incidents taking place in locations where higher-than-average numbers of bike-car collisions had already been reported.

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