Safety First

Only yesterday we told you that the solution to conflict on the roads between cars and bikes was education as part of the driving test. It turns out that this might not, in fact, be the answer, and that the only way to go is with an invention from a 10 year old from Wales.

The Bike Bleeper, invented by Tybalt Melia, transmits a signal to car radios so that the driver is alerted to any cyclists ahead. It was the winner of My Genius Idea, a programme for young inventors run by CBBC. You can watch the final here(what do you mean you don’t regularly watch CBBC?) and see the device in action, which is really impressive, and I hope that Tybalt gets the support he needs to take the Beeper to market. I can see it being a simple way to keep cyclists safer on the roads, especially, maybe on A-roads where cars can come upon cyclists faster and with less warning than on city streets (and perhaps less regularly so that car drivers aren’t constantly annoyed by interruptions to the radio).

From safety to, well, the opposite. Hey hipsters, do you think you’re cool riding with no brakes? You’re not, but Chris Akrigg is, even without a fixed gear to be able to slow down at all. Mind you there are still clearly risks. Even top trials starts are vulnerable to trees. Have a look here:

Unfixed from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

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