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Kickstarter Thursday: Two Wheeled Edition – 5/30/2013

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I recently visited Myrtle Beach. It just so happened to be the famous Myrtle Beach Bike Week. Let’s just say the driving on the Grand Strand was intense. Motorcycles make me anxious.

They don’t make me anxious because they are big bad tough guys riding their “hogs.” They make me anxious because I know how dangerous motorcycles are. With small frames, high speeds, and very very little protection they should be called “death machines” instead. Here is an article to make my point.

It’s a fact. No matter how amazing the ride is, Motorcycles are dangerous. So today I want to share with you two Kickstarter campaigns that aim to make two wheeled machines safer.

Vololights

According to Vololights, there are 3 main issues in motorcycle safety, and their product aims to correct these issues:

  1. Motorcycles decelerate by means other than traditional braking. They can lose speed with by engine braking and downshifting, both of which do not illuminate the brake light on a motorcycle.
  2. People driving cars are often distracted.
  3. Even when car drivers know the cyclist is slowing down, they often can’t discern how fast the cyclist is doing so.

To curb these issues Vololights, basically a license plate cover with lights, detects whenever the vehicle is slowing down and how fast motorcycle is decelerating. It alerts the driver behind with a series of different lights to show the urgency in the deceleration.

Helios Bars

Helios Bars aims to provide safety to bicyclists in a similar way to Vololights. While Vololights aims to make riders safer by using lights to alert others that the motorcycle is slowing down, Helios Bars aims to just simply give bicycles lights in the first place.

By giving the handle bars a main headlamp, and back facing side lights, bicycles will be more visible, especially at night. The bars also include gps and bluetooth. All of this combined gives you these features:

  • Proximity Lighting – lights turn on when it senses you are near your bike.
  • Turn Signals – no more confusion from others by holding up your hand.
  • GPS Tracking – Just incase your bike is stolen.
  • Visual Speedometer – The rear facing LEDs can change color according to how fast you are riding.
  • Turn-by-turn nav – Using Google Maps API, the rear lights will indicate when a turn is approaching.
  • Ambient Lighting – In case you want to set the mood.

So there you go. If you ride a two wheeled machine please check these two new projects out. They may not give your cycle the ability to take a massive hit from a car, but they will make you more visible to drivers, and that is a major safety enhancement.