One of the main transport problems in the Netherlands is the safety of cyclists on the road. The main reason for this lies in the frequent fall of elderly riders. It seems that the problem has been solved by the engineers of Delft University of Technology and the specialists from the Koninklijke Gazelle company.
They offered a prototype of a bicycle that does not fall at a speed of 4 kilometers per hour. For this purpose, an electric motor has been integrated into the steering rack. It straightens the whole device in the right direction should there be the risk of losing balance. It can even steer without a rider. According to the authors of the project, it’s next to impossible to drop the bike. The mathematical model takes into account 25 different parameters, calculating the stability of the vehicle in real time.
The device is especially important because the number of accidents associated with the fall of elderly cyclists has increased by a third in the first decade of this century alone. About 500 people fall annually, 120 of whom die. Such incidents cost the economy $330,000 each. The safety relevance for heavy and fast electric bicycles is even higher.
The steering algorithms are being developed. Yet, the new technology will not appear on the roads very soon, and it is not known yet how much the invention will cost.
