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Successfully Kickstarted last month, Shield is a bicycle taillight/brake light with several gimmicks, the largest being: When you turn your head to look over your shoulder, it flashes a corresponding turn signal.
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I love that the "thief" is wearing an NYC hoodie.
Costume selections aside: Do you think this is a good idea? It's been a while since I rode a bike in the city, but I remember regularly checking over both shoulders just to be aware of being overtaken, not because I intended to turn in that direction. I also wonder how easy it is to attach the sensor to your helmet, and how accurate it is.
I could see the find-bike feature being useful in some situations. The brake light is nifty, but I wonder if it actually increases safety. And the alarm I could write off altogether; I suspect it would be like car alarms, i.e. something pedestrians ignore because it was set off by a passing garbage truck.
Cyclists, this thing runs $52 on pre-order. Would you find this useful enough to buy one?
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
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Yea or Nay? A Bike Turn Signal That Activates When You Look to the Side
I'm sorry no. My head is on a swivel when I'm on my bike especially in traffic.
All previous comments: yes with emphasis.
Additionally: the blinkers are so close together as to be undiscernable whether they're indicating one side or the other. The blinker light shape (arrow/carat/sharrow) could be helpful in theory, but in practice, at that small size: nope.
I would be surprised if 5% of vehicles around me when I'm commuting would pay attention to that signal. Giant arm gestures are the only way.
I commute by bike daily and this would only cause confusion to the cars behind me. I'm constantly looking down side streets to make sure upcoming vehicles see me. Bad product idea.
I don't think the fellow they used in this video knows how to ride a bike. I thought he was more likely to fall than turn right. :(
Oh god no. Any cyclist in the United States who's experienced even the least amount of urban (or for that matter ANY on road cycling) knows they need to keep their head on a swivel at all times. I constantly look all over for vehicles coming, obstacles, other cyclists, points of interest along the way. My head turning has no bearing on if I'm turning or not. A solution in search of a problem...