A great idea for cyclists, or not?

I use NYC's bike share thingy quite a lot, in fact I've almost completely stopped using the subway except on rain or snow days. Trouble is though cycling in this city is hairy to say the least. One of the most common accidents is when some a-hole in a truck turns suddenly in front a cyclist and they go right under the wheels. So I'm always super aware of my surroundings whenever an intersection is coming up. 
 
Earlier this evening I took a bike crosstown and to my surprise found it was projecting a green bicycle shaped image on the road ahead. I thought I was dreaming for a minute. Took a snap of it as I was cycling:
 

 
I figure the reasoning behind it is, if a truck is alongside you but isn't aware you're there, he now has some kind of visual cue to inform him of the fact in case he was thinking about making that turn without yielding. I'm in two minds though. This thing created quite a stir tonight - people on the street were pointing at it and saying "WTF is that" and I have a feeling it might have been distracting some drivers as well. Everyone was curious. I've never seen this on a CitiBike before so I figure they've probably rolled it out on a handful of bikes out of the 10,000 or so they have. I seem to have a knack for landing these 1 in a 1000 "test" bikes because a couple of weeks ago I took a bike that had these awesome new gears that didn't have discrete gear settings, but rather one continuum of gear ratios with everything in between - you tightened and loosened it to taste. Had never seen that before, and I've never seen it since either. Anyway I hope I get another of these fancy projection bikes because it was actually very cool. 

I dunno..if you were behind a lorry or other large vehicle, where would the image be?

jamesg1213
I dunno..if you were behind a lorry or other large vehicle, where would the image be?

It's not so much a problem when you're behind a truck. You see the brake lights as it slows to turn, and react accordingly. The problem is when you're alongside a truck and it suddenly turns in front of your path. 

I feel your pain.  Portland, which supposedly a cyclists paradise is loaded with bad drivers, cyclists or otherwise.  If people would just take responsibility for themselves...the goal is to wear gold on the soles of your shoes not pave the world in gold...

I've seen something similar used on forklifts in factories and warehouses for several years now. Usually its blue dot that shine on the floor ahead of and/or behind the machine. Helps alert others that the machine is in motion near them and thus reduces accidents I suppose. 

As for using it on bikes, I think it could be seen as both a benefit and a risk. With forklifts on factory floors its a great idea. But in that environment, both those who operate the forklift and those who do not receive training on what the lights mean and what each is expected to do when encountering it. 

On the streets, no one receives any kind of training. So it could certainly be argued that situations will arise where someone on a bike ends up being a little more aggressive than they otherwise would have due to the false sense of protection the light gives them. Which is to say overall its probably a good thing but it won't protect boneheads and could actually help contribute to the demise of some of them.

Guitarhacker
When you ride either a bicycle or a motorcycle, you are taking a risk since you are the smallest and hardest thing to see out there and you won't win any encounters with larger vehicles.
 
It doesn't matter what hi-tech you use if you don't use defensive driving/riding strategies. When I ride, I assume everyone is out to get me. That keeps ME aware and on the defensive. It doesn't matter who has the right of way or who didn't see who when you're laying on the pavement after a collision.
 
Using the green bike projector is good, as is lights and things on the bike, but don't rely on those things to keep you on 2 wheels and off the pavement.
 
 
While riding my motorcycle one day with my youngest daughter on the back, I was riding in the right (slow lane) of the interstate. We were going just slightly under the posted speed of 70 mph.   A driver came up beside me in the left (faster lane) from behind me. So theoretically, she should have seen me easily. She drove beside me for about a mile. As we came to an exit..... not my exit.... but apparently the driver in the mini-van realized that this was where she was supposed to get off.... she suddenly, and without any warning, swerved into my lane, and headed towards the exit. My instinctive reaction was to also swerve right, then slow down to let her pass, and off the highway onto the shoulder. The lady in the min-van never saw me and never slowed down....she just kept on going down the ramp..... and I, fortunately, stayed upright and drove down the shoulder of the road, checked for traffic and got back onto the highway and rode home.
 
I wonder how that green bike projection works in the daytime.

 
To be fair though, I don't think anyone is proposing this laser technology as a complete solution to anything - like every other safety measure you'd take as a cyclist (wearing a helmet, wearing reflective clothing, having working lights etc) it's an accumulative way to decrease your chance of being in an accident. And given that your chances of being hit increase at night, if this little green bike decreases your chances of being hit only slightly then I'm all for it. However I'm not yet certain if it's going to do that.

sharke

kennywtelejazz
The green bike in sharkes picture I suspect is also being projected for the benefit of pedestrians ..  
Pedestrians in many cases are a rare breed of human that do not have the ability to judge a moving vehicles speed .
Pedestrians also like to run out in traffic to jaywalk against moving traffic at the absolute last moment when they stand the greatest risk of being hit by the moving vehicle 
I would suspect that while the pedestrian is finishing up a text message they will be looking down at their feet and they would see a moving halo of a green cycle coming their way ......
 
all the best,
 
Kenny

 
Arghh don't get me started on pedestrians. I'm not one of these "pedestrians are always at fault" kind of guys who seem to abound in NYC - the vast majority of pedestrian deaths here are caused by reckless drivers. However you would not believe how frequently a pedestrian just blindly steps out into my path looking at their cellphone and I have to swerve around them (making sure they get the full benefit of my potty mouth in the process). And at the risk of appearing sexist and ageist, in the vast majority of cases it's a young girl of around 20-30 looking at her iPhone. I don't know what it is about this particular demographic but they tend to be so sucked into their social media activity that they block out everything around them, which is pretty much suicidal in New York. 
 
Another of my pet peeves here is that pedestrians seem to think that the bike lanes are an extra sidewalk, so for example when I'm cycling up 8th Avenue around midtown at rush hour, the whole bike lane is swarming with them. The other day this old guy yelled at me to "get on the road"  because I was coming towards him on the bike path. His audacity was incredible, and I had to stop and say "Are you stupid? Get on the sidewalk!" People are so clueless, you have to be continually on your guard. 
 

I never cease to be amazed how many young mothers with pushchairs step out into the road without looking. It's as if they think that no driver would dare to run over a small child, so it'll be ok. Totally baffles me. There's a particular High street / side street junction near me with a well known brand of coffee shop on one side of the street where I dread to think how many times you would see this happen if you spent the day sitting in a window seat, but you can bet your life than when it happens one day, which it surely will, that the driver will be blamed.

paulo

sharke

kennywtelejazz
The green bike in sharkes picture I suspect is also being projected for the benefit of pedestrians ..  
Pedestrians in many cases are a rare breed of human that do not have the ability to judge a moving vehicles speed .
Pedestrians also like to run out in traffic to jaywalk against moving traffic at the absolute last moment when they stand the greatest risk of being hit by the moving vehicle 
I would suspect that while the pedestrian is finishing up a text message they will be looking down at their feet and they would see a moving halo of a green cycle coming their way ......
 
all the best,
 
Kenny

 
Arghh don't get me started on pedestrians. I'm not one of these "pedestrians are always at fault" kind of guys who seem to abound in NYC - the vast majority of pedestrian deaths here are caused by reckless drivers. However you would not believe how frequently a pedestrian just blindly steps out into my path looking at their cellphone and I have to swerve around them (making sure they get the full benefit of my potty mouth in the process). And at the risk of appearing sexist and ageist, in the vast majority of cases it's a young girl of around 20-30 looking at her iPhone. I don't know what it is about this particular demographic but they tend to be so sucked into their social media activity that they block out everything around them, which is pretty much suicidal in New York. 
 
Another of my pet peeves here is that pedestrians seem to think that the bike lanes are an extra sidewalk, so for example when I'm cycling up 8th Avenue around midtown at rush hour, the whole bike lane is swarming with them. The other day this old guy yelled at me to "get on the road"  because I was coming towards him on the bike path. His audacity was incredible, and I had to stop and say "Are you stupid? Get on the sidewalk!" People are so clueless, you have to be continually on your guard. 
 

I never cease to be amazed how many young mothers with pushchairs step out into the road without looking. It's as if they think that no driver would dare to run over a small child, so it'll be ok. Totally baffles me. There's a particular High street / side street junction near me with a well known brand of coffee shop on one side of the street where I dread to think how many times you would see this happen if you spent the day sitting in a window seat, but you can bet your life than when it happens one day, which it surely will, that the driver will be blamed.

Union Square in New York is great for that. I sometimes sit in the upstairs cafe of Whole Foods looking down towards the square, and there is a constant stream of 20-somethings crossing 14th street in the middle of the block whilst looking at their cellphones. I once saw a guy get hit by a bus which braked just in time so that it didn't do much damage, he just waved a sort of "sorry" at the driver and continued across the street, never taking his eyes off the phone. And then a cab had to brake hard as he crossed the other lane. Oh and he had headphones on as well. 

sharke

Bristol_Jonesey
great idea for cyclists - buy a car 

I wouldn't drive in this city if you paid me. What a frustrating experience, you feel like you're getting nowhere fast. I can get from A to B in half the time on a bike.

The only time I've had luck driving in Manhattan is between about 1:30 AM and 4:00 AM. Other than that, you're taking your life (or your car) in your hands.
 
 

What's next?
 

Or?
 

I saw a guy cycling around here who looked like he came straight out of Tron - WAY more lit up than these examples.

Speaking of wheels
 

 

I like the idea. At least someone is thinking about making bicyclist safer.  

auto_da_fe
... anything to make cyclists more visible is welcome.
 ...

Portland keeps trying to invent idiocies to help the cyclists downtown and you can even rent a bike cheap to get around and not drive ... but in the end ... downtown Portland is still a mess, despite all the work and help by Craig and Kenny!

craigb
 
Portland's nude bicycle race? 

THAT must be why I have so much trouble with Border Patrol letting me into the States!