#bikecar, a better way to keep cars at bay
 

A colleague and I are doing a project on cycling in Philadelphia. We developed a frame to be installed on a bike to give it a larger footprint to keep cars at bay and to also, hopefully, highlight the 4' space now required by PA's House Bill 170 when passing cyclists.

https://vimeo.com/30966285

You can see it is clearly a very early iteration. Very much just a proof of concept. It was very well received though. We are now looking at how to make this safer and more adaptable and potentially even posting something to instructables about how to make them.

We have heard rumors and must assume that others have done it as well, but can't really find much about other projects…so I thought I would turn to the trusty forums to see if anyone else had run across anything?

If you are interested in the larger project, we are tyring to log our progress on a wordpress site: thesisdesignprocess.wordpress.com

You forgot the big sign on the back that says "I am a dork."

It looks incredibly ungainly. How do you get on/off the bike? Also, it seems like making your bike that wide would create a whole host of problems.

:eek: WTF?

Reminds me of those motorists who have some object sticking out their side windows, just waiting to snag something or someone, and vice versa.


To the OP, seriously lose that add on contraption before you hurt someone or yourself.

This idea is filled to overflowing with so much fail, no human language can possibly convey the true magnitude of it.

Thankfully, you've provided a video.

If you're bound and determined to "widen your footprint," simply stick a warning flag out, on each side of your bike.

Are you serious? This is a really bad idea! If you can't see why, it almost seems futile to try to explain it to you. But just let me say that having that mess sticking out of my bike would have made my morning ride extremely dangerous, and I couldn't even have gone half of where we rode last night even with total disregard for my safety. Don't bother posting instructions on how to make this abortion, I doubt you will have many takers.

Don in Austin

Exactly, and the flag should be on some kind of stick that easily breaks away, not PVC pipe!

Don in Austin

Looks scary. Before, when a car entered your '4 foot zone' you got buzzed. Now when they do you're going down.

It is interesting that on the blog's site, they say they are getting near unanimous positive feedback. Judging by the comments here, the positive feedback isn't from actual cyclists.

Hmm. Putting a big frame around a bicycle only turns you into a slow moving vehicle, one that has lost the maneuverability and versatility that bicycles have. On the back of my trike I have a reflective triangle that discourages close passes that would probably clip my front wheel.

Enjoyed the music... :)

+1 to all of the above... bad idea, dangerous and not helpful and removes advantages bikes have.... how in the heck would you park that?

my experience is that you don't need much on the back to get more space from passing cars. I would say get a 3' long, 1" dia. PVC pipe, paint it silver, put it sideways across your rack, and watch the passing cars give you lots of space. Apparently scratching the paint job is much more of a concern than the dent/blood from hitting a cyclist.

They have comments blocked on the blog, so I wonder where all that positive feedback is coming from. Their moms?

If you add a cylinder of compressed air and some valves you could have a four-way potato cannon.

Then it might have a practical application.

I was thinking the very same thing after reading their post and seeing the video.

I was thinking force field of some sort like on the Jetsons!

Maybe some gun turrets mounted around the bike to fen off angry motorists and dogs.

I love it! Thanks for the flag comments, those were productive. Though also, the general sense of negativity towards the concept highlights the imperfections of the current state, which is, as stated before, a very early concept.

It seems this hasn't really been done before. Well I did find this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOU563OvpUY

which seems like a similar premise of keeping cars away.

The positive comments came from the people we spoke with while doing the ride, which included bus drivers, pedestrians, motorists and cyclists.

The PVC certainly did hinder the maneuverability and general ride-ability the bike. The hope with whatever future concept is developed would be no impairment, obviously. Also making it much less permanent and damaging is a goal as well.

I don't think you get it.....negativity has nothing to do with imperfection of design but rather with a totally bad concept..... no execution of design can fix that

or to be really really clear... this is a really dumb idea.

It is clear, I do not "get it." Could you elaborate a bit more on why it is "a really dumb idea" with a few more specifics? My perception is that helping keep cars away from bikes isn't such a bad idea. Also, as an aside, the context of this is less the suburban/rural environment, more urban. Finally, the last point, I realize I have neglected to make up to now is that this isn't meant to be a permanent installation on your bicycle, but more temporary piece to make a statement to drivers.

Just how is this suppose to be helpful in getting cars to pass with the 4' requirement? All this does is make your bike wider, the cars are not giving more space.

Looks like pretty much the same results I see when I tow a trailer.

Change the pvc to an LED light-ribbon.

It's like a giant cow-catcher. Except that a cow getting scooped up on the front of a train does a whole lot less damage than a pedestrian getting caught up in that thing.


From the video, it appears that both you and the camera operator have them on your bike. This contraption would seem to hinder your riding next to each other or pulling along side at traffic lights.