Garmin Acquires iKubu, Designer of Backtracker – Radar Equipped Garmins on the Horizon?

Radar and rear view cameras, both rather expensive ways to avoid being seen as nerdy for using a plain old mirror. (Admittedly, the light alerting approaching vehicles could be useful, and rear facing video recorders too.)

All of this technology to make cycling ‘safer’ makes me shake my head. Being safe means being alert, cautious, calm, predictable, patient, respectful and obedient to the law among many other important attributes. Computers are none of these. Computers don’t save lives, people save lives and relying on a computer to exhibit the aforementioned attributes for us lets us become lazy. Drivers are already being conditioned to rely on audible beeps to be alerted to cyclists rather than turning their neck and/or being any of those attributes. And cyclist who think knowing the speed and distance of possible incoming cars rather than staying on a bike lane constantly checking their surroundings is tragedy waiting to happen. Use those seconds with your head down to get an accurate view of the road around you by turning your head! I even object to non computing ‘safety devices’ for cyclists like mirrors. Turn your head around and get the full view! Also, if I am going to pass I don’t know if you saw me or not and if you are planning on reacting at some point. And then while you try to calculate my speed and eta – which you can’t – while fixed on the mirror, you could end up smashing into something anyway. There are no automated and digital shortcuts around what has been marketed to us as the inconvenience of staying safe. False security will always cost something. Ok, rant over! And get rid of those mirrors please 🙂

Peter, I guess you have never tried riding with a mirror. Or at least not long enough to get used to it. Or you tried a really bad one. Having used a small eyeglass-mounted mirror for years I know it’s made my riding a lot safer. No silent cars can sneak up and surprise me anymore. Glancing forwards and backwards and forwards again is a lot faster than turning your head. I can perfectly well judge speed and eta of approaching cars. When I look in the mirror, my periphery vision still shows me what’s happening up front. Turning my head a few degrees to each side I can scan the full view behind me, left and right and directly behind. I have a better overview, all the time.

As for showing drivers behind me that I have seen them – I sometimes do it if they are very slow to pass, but there is mostly no point. Do you expect a tractor driver or scooter driver to do it? It’s your responsibility as a driver to pass me safely, whether I’ve seen you or not. If you think I haven’t seen you, you’ll have to give me extra room when you pass – safer for me.

I dont know, radar is radiation. Is sitting on top of a radiation emitter the safest thing, for reproductive health?

The intensity of the radar beam is very likely so small as to be negligible as far as affects on human tissue go. The energy per photon in the radar spectrum is less than the energy per photon in the visible light spectrum, and you’re bombarded with about 1000 watts per square meter of visible light every time you go outside.

Peter, perhaps you are thinking about handlebar mounted mirrors? They have a limited field of view yes, because your body is in the way. Put the mirror on your glasses or helmet, and you get a full 360 degrees overview, just by turning your head a few degrees and using your eyes actively. I can only suggest you try it, to see how it works. I use the “Take-a-look” mirror, and recommend it to anyone who rides a bike in traffic.

“You said you can see silent cars sneaking up but then said there is no point in that anyway” – Not what I said at all. I said there is no point in letting the driver know that I’ve seen him, usually. There is certainly a point in me knowing that he’s there.

The advantages of a good mirror are self-apparent to me as a user. I use it much more often than others turn their head, making me more aware, more of the time. In dense city traffic I can monitor the tailgater behind me without hitting the car that suddenly brakes in front of me. At high speed I can look behind me without affecting either weight shift or aerodynamics – so no effect on stability. My neck works fine – the mirror works better.

The only thing I can agree with, is no need for mirrors when offroad. Again, try it if you haven’t, and give it a few hours or days to let it become second nature. If after that you still don’t think it’s a good idea – well, at least then it’s an informed choice.

I think this is useful if you like to ride in the middle of the lane which I guess is fine if nobody is behind you. If you’re riding close to the shoulder(like most people do), I don’t think knowing a car is coming will do you any good. You’re still supposed to stay where you are. Maybe this is good for the person that likes to pull over and stop when a car is coming but that person isn’t gonna get anywhere by bike.

If a car is coming from behind you, its probably not gonna hit you. However, if it is going to hit, knowing its coming may even be bad because your body is better off in a relaxed state in an accident. This is one of the few scenarios when ignorance really is bliss. Its my job to try to be as visible as possible and stay as close to the shoulder as is safe. Someone, someday may hit me with their car. There is no way I can prepare for it…unless I’m riding on the wrong side of the road

Randall…I forgot who’s making it but there is a tailight that changes its brightness when a car is coming.

sounds like a good way to be frightened by every car passing you without increasing safety. It is not like you could have fast enough reaction time to throw yourself into a ditch in case a car was really about to hit you.

All of this rear viewing equipment is all well and good but it all practicality how can it be used? I was hit from the rear by a pickup in East Texas last summer so I can speak with some authority. Just knowing a car is approaching is of little use. A mirror or your ears in many cases can tell you that. Is the car going to hit you? Every time your radar goes off do you stop and look? Are you going to run off the road when something approaches? The difference between getting hit and a close call is only a few degrees and until something can tell you that a car is on a collision course then it’s a false sense of security that will only have you looking over you shoulder too often.

Peter, you’ve obviously never biked in, or probably even visited a big city. From what you say, it sounds like you think city life is like a car commercial, where seeing a car on the road is a rare thing.

You can be as predictable and law abiding as you like, and stay in your imaginary bike lane, that isn’t going to do $hit about the kid who is texting and not paying attention like you are. Unless you never put your eyes on the road and are constantly looking over your shoulder, that kid may run you down before you realize he’s coming (deleted). Even if you see a car swerving like the driver is drunk, it’s possible there could be no where for you to go – a really bright flashing light that wakes the driver up would be valuable.

True, safety devices aren’t much use in your small town with bike lanes on every road and perfectly attentive drivers. For the reality-based community however there are times when something like this could be useful.

What I’d want out of such a system, is…cue marketing…

Cyclist, had one too many punishment passes? Car drivers getting too close for comfort? MMA training ruining your cyclist physique? Well we have the answer for your. Your own personal defense drone!

Combining rear radar and license tagging, it’s time to even out the odds. If a car driver is being dangerous, just one push of a button tags his vehicle. The signal is then sent to central command (which needs a subscription) and the nearest drone is dispatched.

Use of such systems is illegal in most states, but it’s legal to own them 🙂

Brought to you by NSP-BlueWater Security Systems.

Garmin and GPS already knows where a lot of us are going (real time maps & tracking). Why can’t mine act as a “radar detector”, and give me a beep of increasing frequency, as the guy hammering down the forested, single track, going for a K.O.M, is about to lawn dart me. If you have your garmin on and I have mine on, can’t we OPT in, to get a heads up??

b: “The idea of using a helmet mirror to decide to make last-second emergency evasive maneuvers is completely asinine to me.” – Agreed, the last second is usually too late to do anything useful.

The thing about good mirrors is that they give you the chance to react to dangers long before the last second. And note that a “tiny” helmet mirror is actually “big”, because it’s so close to your eye. Comparatively similar to the side mirror of cars, sometimes bigger. I can see incoming cars behind me as far away as I can see them in front of me, so I can react to situations before they become dangerous.