Cycling UK Forum

gilesjuk wrote: ...The argument is should technology be used to assist people on the roads?....

That happens already with all manner of devices. It seems to me that one of the problems which often goes unnoticed is the way that the potential safety improvements of existing technological advances eg cats' eyes, ABS, anti-skid surfacing, are simply consumed by people travelling faster rather than more safely. One of the things mentioned in the link is night vision equipment and I suspect that would be used in exactly that way.

I understand that the umbrella project for this research was about using IT to improve social inclusion - it's taken a bit of lateral think to stretch that to research into gadgets for cars, whoever uses them.

You can't beat a bit of controversy, of course, and old fogeys at the wheel is up there with illegal immigrants and cyclists. I don't know how many people die at the wheel and how many of those are into bus pass territory but I do suspect that the reporting cases of confused, elderly drivers doing something silly, even if there is no collision, magnifies the public perception of their being a problem. And on the subject of bus passes, it's amazing to me the amount of hostility that they cause.

If I've understood the the article correctly, then it seems that the researchers are using some sort of equipment which has the potential for detecting drivers who are past their sell by date, and that may be the best use for it.

I am pleased to read the project does include research on public transport, "for disabled and older people who may not have access to a car or don't want to drive."

I'm saddened that the research on private transport "will focus on the private car". But these guys are concerned with the "digital economy". Perhaps they think GPS etc has no relevance to non-car users.

snibgo wrote:I am pleased to read the project does include research on public transport, "for disabled and older people who may not have access to a car or don't want to drive."

I'm saddened that the research on private transport "will focus on the private car". But these guys are concerned with the "digital economy". Perhaps they think GPS etc has no relevance to non-car users.

Of course it depends on your definitions of "disabled" and "older", but I think that for obvious reasons both are groups for which cycling is least likely to be a viable option. I suspect that those for whom it is are not sufficiently disabled or elderly to be the focus of this study. Yes I know about 80 year old cyclists but the vast majority of 80 year olds IME would have a considerable risk of death from a single fall from a bike.

Spectacles enable many people to drive. Hand controls enable many disabled people to get around. Should they be in the same category, they are all health related. Perhaps this software should be built into all sat navs as an option like 'avoid major roads'. I love that, most people never use it and blindly follow satnav directions. They have done more than anything to free up the byways from people who only seem to be able to navigate with an electronic box.

Al

karlt wrote:Yes I know about 80 year old cyclists but the vast majority of 80 year olds IME would have a considerable risk of death from a single fall from a bike.

Agreed, although some of us who are much younger face a similar risk.

As a cyclist, I'm suspicious of safety devices that reduce the needs of a driver to look out for road signs and other traffic, and warn them when they are drifting across lanes. They may increase safety, but they may encourage the motorist to drive faster or (and this is an explicit research goal) to drive more. If a driver can't see a road sign, can they see me wobbling on a bike?

Naturally, I'm in favour of technology removing the disadvantages of old age or disability, the technology being anything from a pair of glasses to a car that only needs one hand to operate. But my suspicions remain.

Older people are more likley to wear their specs than some of the young who do not wear them because of vanity.
How many of the older people are found speeding and traveling long distances? Most older people use their car for short journey slowly that cyclists are saying should be done slower.

I wonder why insurance companies charge the young and not the old higher premiums?

al_yrpal wrote:
Are we as rude about people who feel they have to use Macs, iPads, iPhones or big button Doro's because they feel they can't deal with anything more complex?


Al

I didn't know that you had met my wife!