Limited visibility and lack of driver awareness to the presence of bicycles are amongst the most common sources of bicycle accidents.  Drivers frequently cause accidents by pushing cyclists out of or into the travel lanes, making turns across a cyclist’s path, and generally disregard the cyclists rights to use the road.  Yet, when the police interview the driver, the report is usually something like: “He [the cyclist] came out of nowhere”, “there was nothing I could do”, or “I never saw him”.  And, unfortunately, there is a distinctly anti-bicyclist bias in our culture, which leaves the injured rider forced to prove what actually happened.  Often without the benefit of witnesses or measurable physical evidence.   And don’t get me started on the epidemic of hit & run accidents in which the cyclist is left injured on the side of the road.

So, what can you do about it?  How can you protect yourself?  How about a high def camera system for your bike?  A new product called “Rideye” which is intended for just this purpose.

According to the device’s creator, Cedric Bosh, of Los Angeles, he was inspired to design the device in response to a friend’s injury in a hit & run accident.  Mr. Bosh set out to design an “eyewitness”  device for cyclists to assist them in objectively proving what actually happened.  The device is relatively simple.  It consist of a small high def camera housed in an aluminum box which can be attached to the bicycle or a rider’s helmet.  It boasts one-touch operation, crash sensors and even an accelerometer to trigger an auto-save feature in the event of a crash.

Bosh states that “license plates can be easily identified in most situations”, which can allow one to track down an offender or to at least identify potential witnesses.  The device received resounding support on the company’s kickstarter page, and is reportedly now slated for release in the near future.  Keep an eye out for it!

More information can be had from the following video links: