laser safety device for bikes
- Thread starter NeilP
- Start date
MikeFairbanks
100 kW
Seems like a great idea.
But will it work in the daytime?
But will it work in the daytime?
Joe Perez
100 W
Unrelated question: will it work with drivers who don't generally make a habit of looking down at the pavement 5 feet ahead of them and to the side?
NeilP
1 GW
Follow the links I posted, and it seems to say the green one at least is visible in daytime.
You are right about the drivers not noticing though, can't see it makin much difference really..
You are right about the drivers not noticing though, can't see it makin much difference really..
itchynackers
100 kW
If you could customize it to say "Watch where you're going you dipshit", then I bet they'd notice it.
Doctorbass
100 GW
I had similar idea 3 years ago but it was more for the projection of la green laser line like 30 feets on front of the bike to detect putholes by seeing the line shape changing when "scanning" the road surface.
Problem is that to be able to enter into production, we need to keep in the <5mW area for lasers otherwise it become a product that enter in another regulation level and it cost really high!
5mW green laser line projected 30 feet away is not ewally visible unless you increase power...
Doc
Problem is that to be able to enter into production, we need to keep in the <5mW area for lasers otherwise it become a product that enter in another regulation level and it cost really high!
5mW green laser line projected 30 feet away is not ewally visible unless you increase power...
Doc
MikeFairbanks
100 kW
Joe Perez said:
That's a good question, but it might help.
How about this: Invent a gadget (then lobby Congress to make it mandatory in all cars
) that presents an audible beep, depending on the type of obstacle or vehicle near it.Then, on each bike is a gadget that sends the signal to the car's audio device.
Oh, and outlaw car stereos too.
In all seriousness, I'm surprised stereos are allowed. I'm surprised eating and drinking is allowed. I say this based on the fact that driving has never been and never will be a right. It's always been a privilege.
Most airline pilots are meticulous about flying while completely alert. Just overshooting an airport is a national story.
And it's much safer than driving.
We take driving far less seriously than we should. It's not dozens who get killed each year, hundreds or thousands. It's TENS of thousands who die each year in car wrecks. That's pretty darn sad.
Joe Perez
100 W
Within the world of pilot training, there's a saying that goes "8 hours from bottle to throttle" with regard to the temporal positioning of alcohol consumption relative to flying an airplane.MikeFairbanks said:
Within the world of actually flying airplanes for a living, the joke goes "8 inches from bottle to throttle", as this is a distance which keeps your drink within easy reach and yet out of harm's way if you have to suddenly reach down to the pedestal controls.
edit: This should be interpreted as a bit of pilot humor, not as a condemnation of commercial pilots.
True, but the "taking driving less seriously than we should" starts when you first get your license at the age of 16 after not having been required to take any form of training and having been subjected to a laughably simple assessment, and is only further reinforced from there.
I'd wager that most Americans take the idea that DUI is a "bad thing" with some degree of seriousness, but aside from that, our society is shaped towards removing liability from the individual. No-fault car insurance is one example. Others would be the entire system of tort law; mechanical devices which prevent us from needing to know how to modulate the brakes, shift the gearbox, pay attention to our tire pressure, avoid a spin, or even notice how rapidly we are closing on the car ahead while the cruise control is on; followed by more mechanical devices to protect us from ourselves in the event that the first set of mechanical devices fails to produce the desired outcome even if we "forgot" to wear our seatbelt.
I don't mean this as a rant or a whine, I'm just a realist. Most Americans view driving as a simple entitlement, and as an activity that need not take precedence over eating, typing, applying makeup, shaving, reading a textbook (yes, I have actually seen this one), watching TV, disciplining the children in the backseat, learning how to operate a GPS nav system for the first time, etc.
That being the case, I simply assume that every other driver on the road isn't paying attention to me. Doesn't matter whether I'm in a car, on a motorcycle, or under pedal power. I can think of a few times in recent memory (always while driving a car) where I've lapsed slightly in this, and very nearly hit someone / been hit as a result.
NeilP
1 GW
Joe Perez said:
bugger that is where I have been going wrong, I always thought it was 8 meters from bottle to throttle...I always have to hit the intercom to get one of the hosties to get mine for me
Joe Perez
100 W
So you're an ATP then? Very cool.NeilP said:bugger that is where I have been going wrong, I always thought it was 8 meters from bottle to throttle...I always have to hit the intercom to get one of the hosties to get mine for me
If you're ever feeling quite bored (and extremely secure about your job) I'd love to hear a recording of the conversation in which you ring up the first class galley and request two Jack & Cokes.
Hillhater
100 TW
MikeFairbanks said:
Hmmm ? safer than driving ? ... i wonder if you compared pilot hours per fatality, to driver hours per fatality ??
Timma2500
1 kW
Off topic briefly...
Having said that i realise most operators are completely alert :wink:
Paul
Haha, there are exceptions. My girlfriend worked for Skywest airlines overhere in Western Australia for 8 years and there were atleast two pilots that were known to take pills (ecstacy etc) while out partying the night before flying the next day... The company was told but did nothing about it. Between that and stories she's told me of electrical connections being fixed in their planes with safety pins and other dodgy means, suffice to say you will never get me on a Skywest plane! :lol:Hillhater said:
Having said that i realise most operators are completely alert :wink:
Paul
MikeFairbanks
100 kW
Well, wouldn't you know it?
I got into an accident today, and it really ticked me off (because my daughter was with me).
Background: Here in Peachtree City, Georgia, we have almost 200 miles now of paved multi-use paths. Most people call them cart paths because 90% of the users are in electric (and a few gas) golf carts. The speed limit is 19mph (although nobody has a speedometer).
There are 35,000 people who live in the city, and City Hall says we have 12,000 registered golf carts. They're everywhere. In fifty years, however, only two fatalities have occurred. That's a fantastic record (it's hard to die at 19mph).
The teenagers are, by far, the absolute worst golf cart drivers. They are so bad that now I'm going to do something about it. I'm pretty ticked off right now.
The problem is that they don't slow down. They don't slow when approaching head on (the paths are 6-10 feet wide). That's rude. When approaching head on you are supposed to veer slightly to the right and slow down considerably (most people do just that and most people wave, just like boating).
The teenagers come full speed.
They also don't slow down when entering or exiting tunnels, which is a huge problem because you are going from bright to dark or dark to bright, and it is very difficult to adjust your eyes quickly.
The worst, by far, is the corners. We have trees and bushes everywhere. The teenagers come full speed around those corners, and I've had about five very close, tire-squealing near-misses....ALWAYS with teenagers, and usually boys.
Well, today, I was going up a hill and was going around a corner. It was a long, stretched out corner that veered to the right. I slowed down (because it was really hard to see far) and a teenage boy came around the corner at full speed, downhill. I immediately turned to the right to get off the path, but he slammed into me. He put on his brakes, but there was no stopping him. He connected HARD into the rear-left part of the cart. My tire and back fender took most of the impact, and so did the driver's front side of his cart. His passenger was thrown from the vehicle.
It scared the heck out of me, and made me furious (because my little girl was in the passenger seat).
I looked right at him (he was about 16-18) and yelled, "F-ING TEENAGER DRIVERS!"
I yelled loudly. Then I looked at my daughter (who was fine but wide-eyed), apologized to her for my language. Then, I looked at the teenager (who was about two feet away from me and who's cart was stuck in mine), and yelled at the top of my lungs, "SLOW DOWN!"
I drove away then (which, a few minutes later, it occurred to me that I wasn't supposed to do that). I wasn't even thinking. I just drove away in rage. Since my golf cart was okay (I have no idea how) and since my daughter was okay, I just left. Didn't care at all about them.
When I got to the top of the hill, I looked back and they were moving along too.
Now I'm out for revenge. I won't seek out the kid (hopefully he learned his lesson. I hope he and his friend are okay, but I also hope his golf cart is severely broken).
No, I'm going to the next city council meeting to get big government into those teenager's faces. It's time for some mandatory golf cart safety courses.
We could have gotten really hurt today.
Grrrrrrrr!
I don't see the point of breaking traffic rules, whether on the highway, in a neighborhood, or on a multi-use path. What is the point?
I mean, seriously, what's the damn rush?! Just get in the car, bike, golf cart and drive safely to wherever you're going.
It's not rocket science. Any dope can figure out that just paying attention to the darn rules of the road makes life easier for everyone.
If my daughter hadn't been with me, I might have gone too far. I'm so glad I just drove away. I should have called the cops, but I was in shock. Never had a golf cart accident before. But it's no surprise. The teenage drivers are horrible, just about every one of them.
In my neighborhood very few people (mostly adults) follow the posted speed limit. Heck, even 25 is too fast. I go about 15. We're talking about kids who could get killed, and probably do quite often. There's one lady in our neighborhood who easily hits 45mph driving her minivan. I'm so sick of this crap.
Sorry for the rant.
I got into an accident today, and it really ticked me off (because my daughter was with me).
Background: Here in Peachtree City, Georgia, we have almost 200 miles now of paved multi-use paths. Most people call them cart paths because 90% of the users are in electric (and a few gas) golf carts. The speed limit is 19mph (although nobody has a speedometer).
There are 35,000 people who live in the city, and City Hall says we have 12,000 registered golf carts. They're everywhere. In fifty years, however, only two fatalities have occurred. That's a fantastic record (it's hard to die at 19mph).
The teenagers are, by far, the absolute worst golf cart drivers. They are so bad that now I'm going to do something about it. I'm pretty ticked off right now.
The problem is that they don't slow down. They don't slow when approaching head on (the paths are 6-10 feet wide). That's rude. When approaching head on you are supposed to veer slightly to the right and slow down considerably (most people do just that and most people wave, just like boating).
The teenagers come full speed.
They also don't slow down when entering or exiting tunnels, which is a huge problem because you are going from bright to dark or dark to bright, and it is very difficult to adjust your eyes quickly.
The worst, by far, is the corners. We have trees and bushes everywhere. The teenagers come full speed around those corners, and I've had about five very close, tire-squealing near-misses....ALWAYS with teenagers, and usually boys.
Well, today, I was going up a hill and was going around a corner. It was a long, stretched out corner that veered to the right. I slowed down (because it was really hard to see far) and a teenage boy came around the corner at full speed, downhill. I immediately turned to the right to get off the path, but he slammed into me. He put on his brakes, but there was no stopping him. He connected HARD into the rear-left part of the cart. My tire and back fender took most of the impact, and so did the driver's front side of his cart. His passenger was thrown from the vehicle.
It scared the heck out of me, and made me furious (because my little girl was in the passenger seat).
I looked right at him (he was about 16-18) and yelled, "F-ING TEENAGER DRIVERS!"
I yelled loudly. Then I looked at my daughter (who was fine but wide-eyed), apologized to her for my language. Then, I looked at the teenager (who was about two feet away from me and who's cart was stuck in mine), and yelled at the top of my lungs, "SLOW DOWN!"
I drove away then (which, a few minutes later, it occurred to me that I wasn't supposed to do that). I wasn't even thinking. I just drove away in rage. Since my golf cart was okay (I have no idea how) and since my daughter was okay, I just left. Didn't care at all about them.
When I got to the top of the hill, I looked back and they were moving along too.
Now I'm out for revenge. I won't seek out the kid (hopefully he learned his lesson. I hope he and his friend are okay, but I also hope his golf cart is severely broken).
No, I'm going to the next city council meeting to get big government into those teenager's faces. It's time for some mandatory golf cart safety courses.
We could have gotten really hurt today.
Grrrrrrrr!
I don't see the point of breaking traffic rules, whether on the highway, in a neighborhood, or on a multi-use path. What is the point?
I mean, seriously, what's the damn rush?! Just get in the car, bike, golf cart and drive safely to wherever you're going.
It's not rocket science. Any dope can figure out that just paying attention to the darn rules of the road makes life easier for everyone.
If my daughter hadn't been with me, I might have gone too far. I'm so glad I just drove away. I should have called the cops, but I was in shock. Never had a golf cart accident before. But it's no surprise. The teenage drivers are horrible, just about every one of them.
In my neighborhood very few people (mostly adults) follow the posted speed limit. Heck, even 25 is too fast. I go about 15. We're talking about kids who could get killed, and probably do quite often. There's one lady in our neighborhood who easily hits 45mph driving her minivan. I'm so sick of this crap.
Sorry for the rant.
NeilP
1 GW
Yes, ATP, just the smaller airlines, not trans atlantic
http://www.blueislands.com/
Well I know a few of the old timers used to alwyas do that as they taxied onto stand...get a G& T or similar brought up aftr a long haul flight at end of shift...if Ops do then try and get you to do another sector...'Sorry, cant do that now..i have had a drink '
I may leave it a bit...still got a mortgage to pay off
Nah, dont want to blind them, even more likely to hit you then..something that vapourises the tyres or melts the rims...brings the car to a dead stop, in time for you to veer round it
http://www.blueislands.com/
Joe Perez said:So you're an ATP then? Very cool.NeilP said:bugger that is where I have been going wrong, I always thought it was 8 meters from bottle to throttle...I always have to hit the intercom to get one of the hosties to get mine for me
If you're ever feeling quite bored (and extremely secure about your job) I'd love to hear a recording of the conversation in which you ring up the first class galley and request two Jack & Cokes.
Well I know a few of the old timers used to alwyas do that as they taxied onto stand...get a G& T or similar brought up aftr a long haul flight at end of shift...if Ops do then try and get you to do another sector...'Sorry, cant do that now..i have had a drink '
I may leave it a bit...still got a mortgage to pay off
auraslip said:
Nah, dont want to blind them, even more likely to hit you then..something that vapourises the tyres or melts the rims...brings the car to a dead stop, in time for you to veer round it
