Laser Bike Lane Concept: Bring Your Own Bike Lane

A close brush with a distracted driver is enough to intimidate the most avid bikers from riding at night. The problem isn't just about visibility, as safety lights are effective at capturing the attention of a driver. However, these lights are typically constrained to the bike frame, which highlights only a fraction of the bike's envelope. Bike lanes have proven to be an effective method of protecting cyclists on congested roads.

One key is that the lane establishes a well defined boundary beyond the envelope of the bicycle, providing a greater margin of safety between the car and the cyclist. Yet, only a small fraction of streets have dedicated bike lanes, and with an installation cost of $5,000 to $50,000 per mile, we shouldn't expect to find them everywhere anytime soon. Instead of adapting cycling to established bike lanes, the bike lane should adapt to the cyclists.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[escrow7]

Cool.

http://www.thirdeyechronicles.com

[SwingingFromCenter]

Oh, btw bikers--a big reason why so many of you get clipped even if you have a bike lane? It's because you have that entire lane there, yet you CHOOSE to ride right on the white line for some unknown reason. I'll never understand it. Why do you do that?

[research]

"We" don't. "Straw man", look it up.

[SwingingFromCenter]

I'll acknowledge your created bike lane when you acknowledge my car being able to make its own lane--right over your bike lane.

Seriously, people actually think this is gonna fly? Bike riders are some of the most self-righteous and obnoxious people on the road as it is without giving them the power to create their own lanes as they see fit.

[SonofLiberty1]

One more thing..

Please wear some kind of a reflective coating at night and especially at twilight hours.

[SonofLiberty1]

My way or the highway huh?

A really dangerous and highly illegal move.

What's wrong with using sidewalks?

What, no cellphone?

[ddanimal]

I like the idea of having keys and sharp metal objects protruding from the left side of a bike. Cars that get too close get keyed and deep paint scratches.

[SwingingFromCenter]

I'll have to get a new paintjob.

You'll have to get a full body cast. Pretty sure I'm gonna come out on top of that one.

Stay to the right of the white line and you'll be fine. Ride on the white line or portrude your handlebars over it and you're fair game in my world.

[frantaylor]

I want one where I can program animations to be drawn out behind my bike as I ride. Why does it need to look like bike lane markings? The point is to get visibility. The usual lame-ass car driver excuse is "I didn't see them" but with a laser show happening in the street behind you, they WILL see you.

[SonofLiberty1]

And you will be cited for causing an accident.

Haven't ridden a bike in years but will start when it gets warm enough.

Frankly, there are a heck of a lot of kids and adults that don't know the rules of the road...even now.
You ride on the right hand side of the street...moving with traffic not against it.

Don't use a cell phone while biking...

[marignymitch]

New Orleans drivers celebrate! The shiny new targets will boost their game of running down bikers.

[learnsomething]

It's a great idea. Very high tech.

[CaptD]

In the NEAR future most folks will have some type of "mobility" scooter powered by electricity, with bicycles being ridden by the young... who have to work hard to keep up with the powered scooters!

Expect to see bicycle type lanes for these as the aging baby boomers "soup up their rides". Auto & Trucks will be in less demand, except on collector streets where they will still rule the asphalt...

Traffic engineers are 20 years behind the curve on this subject and will have to be "shocked" into changing their view of the future transportation Picture. They don['t factor in delays, thousands & thousands of autos wasting fuel (and time) which costs our Country Billions of dollars that could be used to upgrade our road and signal devices to make them "smart"...

[ddanimal]

The lights will be washed out by headlights, unless the lasers are impractically bright and power hungry. Its going to take a LOT of juice to make those laser lines bright enough. A few milliwatts will not do it, especially on black asphalt, which absorbs light.

its a good idea, but I do not think it will be effective.

the sizzle is tastier than the steak on this idea.

[ObjectiveRealist]

I haven't done the calculations but I think that by rapidly scanning the lines from moving dot lasers, not trying to make solid, stationary laser lines, it could be doable. I think a normal laser pointer is in the vicinity of 1mW of output, but more like 1000 times that in drain, 1W. To scan lines I'd guess would take somewhat more than whatever a laser pointer uses, but not nearly as much as a broad, stationary laser beam.

[ObjectiveRealist]

Or, I could try the easy way:
http://dustbowl.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/lightlane_copyright.jpg
They don't phrase things like they're in the exploration or development stage. They don't have a "buy" button but from the looks of it, that's just because they don't trust the Internet for transactions, which I can understand. It seems like these are available for sale somewhere or will be soon. But it also looks like a report from a bike enthusiast / fan who forgot the crucial "how do I get one of these" data. Har!

[research]

Legalize bikes riding on the sidewalk.

[Semaj51]

What about the pedestrians? Sidewalks are for walking - roads are for vehicles.

[sej]

a bicyclist and his bike more closely resemble a pedestrian with respect to a). speed and b). weight. Biking on the streets is just asking for accidents to happen.

[AmberGaze]

As an avid bike rider/commuter, I would defiantly buy 2 of those!

[pokemon]

So simple, but all great ideas are. Now if we can only find a way to make bikes stay on the side of the road..

[AngieMom57]

WOW! Great idea! I want one.