Latest Break Through or Latest Worthless Gadget?

[Ken H.]

At the CES last week Delhi showed off their bind-spot sensor technology, targeted in particular for motorcycles - Delphi Detector

 

Is the latest greatest, or another example of technology run amok?

[TMH]

Sounds like something new that they are using in the Dakar Rally this year (although maybe a totally different technology) where the bikes can get a warning if a larger vehicle is coming up from behind quickly (I think they call it the Sentinal system).

 

Kind of mixed thoughts on the Delphi unit. Even though I have changed the mirrors on the GT, I still don't have really good rearward vision (at least not nearly as good as with the RT). I do typically turn my head to visualize traffic before lane changes, but then you risk that a vehicle in front of you may be making a sudden stop by the time you turn ahead again.

 

But then again, getting "warning lights until it is clear" might be really annoying/distracting.

 

We'll have to see this thing in the flesh before any real comments will be made, but as of yet it is not something that I have been searching for...

 

Tom

[jgrant]

Blind spot on a motorcycle? I can't see how a bike can have one since we don't have anything blocking our views. Our mirrors don't capture everything (or anything in the case of my Duc) we should be turning our heads before we turn.

The trouble with "safety" devices like these is they lull folks into a false sense of complacency. A new rider with a large bike (or smaller one even) gets this device and, because they have it, think they don't need to turn their head anymore to change lanes. Just a bad habit to get into. Devices can fail. That rider thinks they are clear and runs right into a car. Bad news.

[DogGone]

I vote worthless gadget. Are we such geezers that we can't swivel our heads?

 

They'll sell a biliion of them though. And people will get so used to them that they will completely forget about looking around. Another example of the gratuitous use of technology.

 

Should be a lucrative product for lawyers.

 

pete

[GelStra]

I had heard of one car manufacturer (Volvo?) who were going to, had already installed a series of warning lights of something in the blind spots.

IMO, and I'm am certainly jaded here, but, squids aside, I think the people here are, in general, far more safety conscious than most. I think the "blind" aspect has to do with us being invisible to cars, not the other way around. Let's face it: we can hear and feel the airflow of a vehicle as it approaches on our sides.

In conclusion, would I spend the $$? No. I'd spend a fraction of that money on things to make myself more visible: the LED Brake! light, reflective tape, TRAINING, etc.

[smiller]

Perhaps worthwhile in a vehicle that has blind spots, but as was mentioned a motorcycle has none... only a rider who doesn't look, and there are far simpler cures for that.

[Jerry Johnston]

We rely too much on technology already, however I hope every car gets one so they can see me coming on my bike.

[leikam]

No matter how wide the rear view mirror, no matter how much you turn and look over your shoulder, there's always a blind spot that might hide a car you don't see.

 

Uh, no. On a bike, you can in fact look behind you.

 

The prototype uses a pair of infrared thermal sensors that look to the side and behind a vehicle. They see 3 meters to the side and 8 meters behind, and compare temperatures. If the temperature to the side (or slightly behind) is warmer than the temperature behind, it's probably a car traveling one lane over and just behind you, that doesn't show up in the mirror. A warning indicator flashes until the coast is clear.

 

There are only a couple problems with this in the LA market: 1) Another car is likely to be less than 8 meters (25ft) behind you, and 2) that warning indicator would flash so often that it would be useless in planning much of anything. What would be more useful in a car would be a video feed of the rear quarter view.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

I' m with MadMax on this one. I can turn my head to see what's behind me. My mirrors are adjusted, as much as possible, to see the adjacent lanes and cover, as mush as possible, my lane changing blind spots. I don't look behind me except while stopped and then a little lean outward gives me a pretty good view of my elbows. I suppose one day it will present a problem but, I typically am moving from 5 to 15 mph faster than traffic is flowing and I exercise some pretty good lane discipline. I don't really expect very high closing speeds from the right lane.

[Brimoon]

The $2 stick-on convex mirrors work for me. They're available from just about any place that sells auto stuff (Target, WalMart, etc.) and come in different shapes and sizes. I use rectangler ones attached on the lower inside corners of my RT's regular mirrors - a part of the RT's mirrors that aren't particularly useful anyway.

 

Although I still do a head check before changing lanes, the add-on mirrors help to keep me aware of anyone traveling in or near my blind spots. I consider these simple little add-on mirrors to be a significant safety improvement.

 

Brian

[ednap]

It may be a different perception on words but I do believe bikes have blide spots.

 

To me they are areas you cannot see without taking your eyes off where you are going and turning your head. Even then you don't always see everything.

 

I don't necessarily believe these new gadgets are the solution but convex or additional mirrors do help.

 

I not going to split hairs but perhaps for the purpose on my post we could agree the term blind spot refers to an area that can only be seen by taking your eyes off the road ahead.

 

IMHO the concern over what is in the 'blind spot' often becomes an issue because we need to change lanes to avoid a vehicle ahead of us.

 

Just like Tom said in his reply there is a very real risk of the car or whatever in front of us hitting the brakes while your head is turned checking the blind spot. BANG before you know it you could have run up his rear.

 

OK it may not happen all the time but the risk is there every time you are following another car or bike and take your eyes of the road ahead and turn your head to look behind you.

 

This new gadget may not be the best answer but I for one am glad some people are still trying to devise safer solutions for us.

[Tom R.]

Looks like life saving technology to me. I mean, if cars and trucks start using this technology effectively, we may save some riders's lives.

 

Has anyone seen the demonstration of parking multiple motorcycles around a tractor-trailer and then climbing into the drivers seat and realizing how many you don't see?

 

How many times has a cage driver moved into your lane without seeing you?

 

If it works without distracting drivers, I'm all in favor!!