Santander Cycles to trial lasers to reduce blind spot danger

So having been widely lambasted by anyone who's actually used one in the real world, especially on wet roads, they have managed to convince Santander bikes that this is a Thing Worth A Go.

No, no it's frickin' well not. Given the incredibly rare chance of being knocked off a Boris bike, how the hell are they ever going to garner statistically-significant data from a trial of a few hundred lights, being ridden by a hugely diverse number of people all over London?

Utter waste of time and money.

Whoever writes the copy for the Facebook links should be shot. Fricking lazer beams?!?! Either swear properly with anglosaxon conviction or don't bother

Fitting a proper and visible front light might be a good start - compare the feeble flashing white LEDs' (do they actually comply with bike lighting regs? - certainly not a focussed beam?)

The substantially more successful Glasgow bike scheme (costing c.£1500/bike compared to the Bixi (specially modified London version)costs) has a proper bike headlight, and rear light which has a standlight function.

And as for a laser - there is an issue with laser pens being used and causing temporary blindness, on train drivers, pilots, and a documented 'assault' (deliberate use of a device known to cause harm directed towards an individual) by a London bus driver on a cyclist recorded on camera. To project a clear and bright green image that competes with the golden-white light on the street I suspect that this unit may need to be slightly more powerful than a laser (pointer) pen. Given the known harm that such focussed laser light can do, what protection and control measures are in place?

Getting rid of the massive illuminated sign that draws attention away from the cyclist might have more impact.

In fact there is a case for restricting the use of unnecessary lights generally. If for no other reason than energy wastage.

How did they get the shark in that little gap?

It would be useful to know if any of the tragedies involving people on bikes in London so far this year could have been avoided with this supposed safety intervention. Since many occurred during the hours of daylight I'm not wholly convinced of the efficacy of this latest addition to the panoply of pointless blinking and flickering placebos.

I'm also puzzled by this steadfast refusal by transport authorities to address the real source of danger on our roads and their eagerness to waste precious time, effort and budgets on fripperies that firmly place the burden - and cost - of safety on the potential victims, but which can only ever have a cosmetic effect.

As they are, Laserlights might or might not benefit people on bikes - the jury is out - but they do nothing to address the far from negligible danger posed by motor traffic to other vulnerable road users. But, as with hi-vis clothing, I can see them being marketed as yet more essential PPE for everyone outside motor vehicles, including the school walking bus.

It's the laziest and most cynical form of road safety intervention.

Another amulet to ward off negligence. Marvellous.

I don't know if anyone's come across one of these coming the other way but they're f***ping annoying, an extremely bright green flickering light from within the housing despite the 'laser' being pointed at the ground. Admittedly I've only seen two but they were annoying both times, and I'm normally cool like a cucumber.

Good to see them trying something different to improve safety. Any chance of them using this as an opportunity to gather credible data to determine whether these devices actually reduce danger though? The article reads like this is a marketing thing to "address safety concerns" with an unproven device rather than as a means of generating actual evidence (e.g. comparative near misses/KSI rates etc.).
The Ken bikes could be a great test bed for this kind of thing - if the right people are involved...

Good idea maybe to include an illuminated area around the whole bike as the dynamic safety zone that no vehicle should encroach !

Link it to a camera recording system maybe