According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, approximately 961 cyclists were killed, and more than 130,000 are injured annually in motor vehicle-related incidents—but could one student’s clever invention make cycling safer?

Many municipalities have been slow to alter roadways and install micro-mobility infrastructure like bike lanes that have been shown to increase cyclist safety, despite the harrowing statistics, but to address these issues, Ibrahim Cam, a 23-year-old student at Brunel University Design School in West London, has come up with an ad-hoc cycling lane called Laser Lane.

Laser Lane, showcased last week during the annual Made in Brunel exhibition, “fits onto the ends of both handlebars and provides a laser lane on both sides of the cyclist at the touch of a button,” according to the news release.

“The laser lane is intended to increase the visibility of cyclists and to improve communication with other road users,” Cam explained in the news release.

Cam’s innovation to tackle rider safety was grown from his struggle as a new driver trying to give cyclists the right amount of space when passing them on the road and ensuring cyclists had a safer way to communicate with motorists.

“I tried to give cyclists as much space as possible, but seeing how other drivers interacted with them made me think about it more,” he said. “I saw drivers overtaking cyclists around corners and not giving them the 1.5 meters that’s required. Many drivers don’t respect the 1.5-meter rule, and the wind of a vehicle alone can be detrimental.”

In the United Kingdom, motorists are legally required to give cyclists 1.5 meters or 4.9 feet of space when overtaking them. The Laser Lane clearly outlines this space “so drivers can tell the true length of a bike, and the laser will show motorists the clearance that they must give cyclists,” said Cam.

Touch-activated, the laser lane creates white lines in the front and red lines in the rear, making an as-needed cycling lane or enhancing existing cycling infrastructure.

In addition to outlining a rider’s space, Laser Lane includes turn indicators “so cyclists can clearly indicate when they are turning a corner,” Cam explained.

Cam feels Laser Lane can help cyclists, drivers, and the environment. “By helping to give drivers better judgments, cyclists will feel safer on the roads. Less experienced cyclists might not feel confident, but if they feel safer on the roads, then they will cycle,” he added. “Getting more people to cycle will reduce their carbon footprint and result in less congestion on the roads.”

Lighting systems to illuminate cyclists are not new. In 2017, Citi Bike introduced Blaze Laserlights, which “[broadcasted] the image of a bicycle six meters (roughly 20 feet) in front of a rider, artificially extending their road footprint.” The Niterider Sentinel 40 is an option that has been around for a while, too.

Until cycling infrastructure becomes the norm rather than the exception, something like Laser Lane may be what is needed to improve driver awareness and rider safety.

https://www.bicycling.com/news/a44321576/invention-creates-as-needed-bike-lanes-wherever-you-ride/