York is the first university in the country to sign-up to a revolutionary new cycle safety programme – which will actually tell drivers and cyclists when they’re too close to each other.
The scheme is called the Cycle Alert System, and it’s been designed to ‘encourage drivers and cyclists to take responsibility for making the road a safer place’.
Introduced in response to the recent increase in the number of collisions reported between cyclists and vehicles on the road, the system involves sensors which are fitted to a vehicle, a cab-mounted device and a tag that is fitted to the bicycle or worn by a cyclist on their helmet or person.
The three units will work in sync with each other, with the cab-mounted device alerting the driver either by warning or a flashing light when a cyclist is close by.
A spokesperson for the University of York said: “We are thrilled to be working in partnership with Transdev Unibus and the City of York Council to be the first UK city to pioneer the use of Cycle Alert on our University bus fleet. The university is committed to promoting sustainable modes of travel and Cycle Alert will be a huge benefit to our cyclists and city wide.”
Although originally created for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs), the Cycle Alert system can be used by all vehicle users. The co-founder and system’s innovator Peter Le Masurier describes the system as ‘empowering’ for cyclists.
“There are currently no systems on the market that can tell an HGV driver whether a cyclist is close to their vehicle. This is where Cycle Alert comes in. Everybody needs to take responsibility for their own safety on the road,” he said. “Cycle Alert empowers cyclists to make themselves more obvious to HGV drivers. I was inspired to develop this technology when I listened to an interview with a truck driver who have been involved with an accident with a cyclist – I recognised then that not one but two families are left devastated by such incidents.”
The Cycle Alert system went active across the York Unibus service on 10 October and students can purchase a cyclist tag from the Students Union store orgetcycling.org.uk.