Bike flash
Bike-Flash is a traffic warning system to avoid turning accidents between motor vehicles and cyclists . The system's yellow warning lights flash as soon as a cyclist approaches an intersection . The warning system was developed to prevent right - turning trucks from leading to blind spot accidents with cyclists traveling in parallel.
functionality
The warning system is located on a five meter high mast that is set up near an intersection. Four narrow, semicircular light strips with bicycle symbols are attached to the mast. The lights are at different heights so that they can be perceived by the drivers of both low and high vehicles. A thermal imaging camera is installed on the mast that monitors an area four meters wide and 40 meters deep where road users are approaching an intersection. When approaching, the system detects the heat radiation of people and triggers the flashing of the yellow LED warning lights on the mast. The system works not only for cyclists, but also for other road users such as pedestrians or skaters . It can also be used for other traffic routes, such as exits and turns.
development
The warning system, whose heat sensors originate from military technology , was developed by an inventor from Flensburg in Schleswig-Holstein . For a first version, he won the innovation prize of the Flensburg Innovativ association in 2010 , which was awarded to him by the Flensburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry . The warning system has been offered across Europe by a company in Husum since 2018 . According to the inventor, there is interest in various cities. The Bike-Flash system should be tested and certified by TÜV .
practice
Long-term studies on the warning system have shown that it works reliably even in extreme light and weather conditions. The first system in Germany went into operation as a pilot project in Garbsen near Hanover at the end of 2018 . On the day of commissioning, there was a fatal turning accident in nearby Burgdorf caused by a truck carrying a cyclist. The costs of the pilot system amounted to 34,000 euros and were borne by the Hanover region and the city of Garbsen. The system is set up at the intersection of a cycle path with an entrance to a logistics center that is heavily frequented by trucks . The initiative to use the warning system came from the Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen parliamentary group in the Garbsen city council in order to make the intersection safer for cyclists. In 2019, the results of the pilot plant in Garbsen will be investigated. The Lower Saxony Ministry of Transport has legal concerns about the pilot test and is considering a ban because it violates the Road Traffic Ordinance.
Since the price of a bike flash system is usually between 15,000 and 20,000 euros, it is assumed that the system is not widely used, but is only used selectively. Dangerous and busy intersections as well as places that are prone to blind spot accidents come into question.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bike-Flash: This system is intended to prevent turning accidents in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of November 23, 2018
- ↑ Wolfgang Schäffer: Cyclists in the blind spot? A heat sensor notices it in Die Zeit on February 25, 2018
- ↑ Johanna Nimrich: Preventing turning accidents with bike flash at radfahren.de from March 21, 2018
- ↑ "Innovationsoskars" awarded in: Economy between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea , 1/2011, p. 2 (pdf)
- ↑ Bike Flash is intended to warn truck drivers of cyclists when turning at Spiegel Online from November 23, 2018
- ↑ Linda Tonn: Toter Winkel: Bike flash system warns truck drivers in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from November 23, 2018
- ↑ 16-year-old cyclist is hit by a truck and dies in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung on November 23, 2018
- ↑ "Bike-Flash" should prevent truck turning accidents at ndr.de on November 23, 2018
- ↑ Anke Lütjens, Gerko Naumann: Amazon: Greens want more safety for cyclists in Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from April 25, 2018
- ↑ "Bike-Flash" will be continued for the time being at ndr.de from January 17th, 2019