It’s not entirely clear why cyclists would want want to wear a reflective safety vest that displays their speed in gigantic neon lights on their back, but that didn’t stop musician and bizarro-fiction author Mykle Hansen from engineering one anyway.
The SPEED-VEST sounds like it could be something out of one of Hansen’s novels, which include Help! A Bear Is Eating Me and The Rampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere, but I assure you it is for real. Originally concieved by Brady Clark, the SPEED-VEST, which utilizes a wheel speed sensor and runs for up to 6 hours on a 9 volt battery, is billed as a bicycle safety device that increases riders’ visibility on the road and serves as a means for urban cyclists to prove to hurried motorists that bikes travel at or near the speed of traffic. Last year the invention won the Hub Bike Shop’s Bike Gadget Contest in Minneapolis, MN.
Although the SPEED-VEST might work for racing purposes (so the contestants behind you can see at what speed you are burning past them) I think it might do more harm than good on the open road. First of all, most cyclists don’t travel at the speed of traffic at all and being reminded of that fact in gigantic, glaring numerals would probably just infuriate motorists even more when they’re stuck behind you. Second of all, a speedometer visible to the public would be doing cops a huge favor. The last thing you need when getting busted for flying through a four-way stop is the added indignity of a speeding ticket to top it off.
Those who are interested in buying the SPEED-VEST will have to wait because the product is still in the prototype stages.
See the SPEED-VEST in action…
[Via: Mykle Systems Labs]
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This is teh nerd. But, for the sake of argument… for cyclists who are actually able to ride the speed of traffic, it might help to calm those drivers who automatically equate “cyclist” with “slow”, and insist on blowing by us in a cloud of dust and exhaust fumes.