A long and emotionally bloody battle between campaigning cyclists and militant motorists surrounding the sharing of road space has been raging for many years now, with both parties seemingly duking it out for an increased share of the blacktop.
Whatever your standpoint, cars make up 80 per cent of the traffic on our roads, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (R0SPA), and despite a lean towards improved infrastructure for cyclists, the fatality level in 2018 was the same as ten years previous, suggesting that more must be done to protect the most vulnerable on the roads.
See.Sense, makers of smart bicycle lights that feature integrated sensor technology and AI that is capable of monitoring the rider's environment up to 800 times per second, is calling for the general public to contribute to its #SeeSenseReport campaign, which aims give cyclists a voice and to provide transport planners with much needed data.
To do this, the company has added a new feature to its free-to-use See.Sense smartphone app that allows cyclists to report potholes, close passes, collisions, obstructions and other dangerous events in real time, efficiently and easily.
The company believes now is the time to take action, as the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown has forced the UK Government’s to release statutory guidance requiring local authorities to take swift action, within weeks, to implement and monitor measures to reallocate road space to people walking and cycling, both to encourage active travel and also to enable social distancing.
See.Sense CEO Philip McAleese says: “This is an unprecedented opportunity for cycling in the UK. The Covid-19 crisis has been a terrible disaster that has caused an immeasurable amount of suffering, which has touched all of our hearts. What it has also highlighted is how little space we have for people in our towns and cities, with only small paths and narrow lanes allocated for cycling and walking, which has made it almost impossible to safely social distance in places.
“We are delighted that the government has made the decision that they have to improve walking and cycling facilities and by making the #SeeSenseReport data available, we are working to help to empower cyclists to influence change that will help to make cycling safer.”
Previously, it would only be those with smart See.Sense lights that could contribute to the data, with the devices automatically reporting collisions and even analysing road surface condition, but now all cyclists can help contribute and, in the words of See.Sense CEO Philip McAleese, ‘push for a real change in cycling infrastructure in their area’.
Keyword: Smart bike light company, See.Sense, is calling on cyclists to help improve infrastructure through data