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from the everyone-must-carry-a-radio dept.
Trek joins with Ford to propose bicycle to vehicle communications, as an addition to already proposed vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communications.
http://www.velonews.com/2018/01/news/trek-takes-a-high-tech-approach-to-save-cyclists-lives_454307
The system connects vehicles to a larger communications system, which means cars can communicate with other vehicles, pedestrian devices, bicycles, roadside signs, and construction zones.
A cyclist would ride with B2V-enabled equipment, initially manufactured by Trek or Bontrager. Or, he or she could have a mobile app with C-V2X. The driver would then be alerted by their car when a cyclist is present in a potentially dangerous area.
Trek partnered with a company named Tome, who also add in the buzzword, "AI-based" to make sure you know that they are really with it. No mention of the power requirements for this system, and how they can be met within the extremely small power capability of a bike rider, or even the small battery system used on e-bikes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 11 2018, @10:02AM
So now you've got bikers of 2 tier: wealthy banksters with a lovely brand spanking new safety beacon and then the worthless blebs who have nobody but themselves to blame for getting run over...
If this technology was actually useful, then the only way would be to mandate every biker use it. I think the company behind this gizmo wouldn't mind. However it is hardly a useful idea or are we going to make all pedestrians carry such a beacon too, perhaps all wild animals as well?
Nothing but another useless feature or actually worse a distraction. Driving isn't hard if you keep your eyes open and stupid gizmos closed.