Bike Safety Device Keeps You in a Safe Bubble, Works Like the Parking Sensors in Your Car

Sometimes bad events lead to good things, and that’s what happened in the case of Omar Bakhshi, the designer of this clever bike accessory called Tether. Twenty years ago, he was knocked off his bicycle by an overtaking car and suffered a serious head injury. But something good came out of it, even if it happened two decades later.

Realizing how risky it is for cyclists to ride their bikes in the city, the London-based inventor started thinking about a way to create a visual representation of the space cyclists require so they can ride safely. Well, in the interest of full disclosure, he first got the idea last year, while he was jogging during the first lockdown, and he wanted to keep social distancing. But traumatized by his accident, he took the idea even further and eventually came up with the Tether bike safety device.

So what is it and how does it work? The Tether consists of two main components: hardware and software. You’ve got the device itself, which gets attached to your bike’s handlebars and has embedded sensors that project something the manufacturer calls a “Bubble”, which is a safe zone around your bicycle. They work kind of like your car's parking sensors and can detect passing vehicles at a distance of up to 8.2 ft (2.5 m). Powered by a rechargeable battery, the current Tether prototype lasts for six hours of continuous use, but that battery capacity will be improved for the production version. So will the design of the product.

The other main component of the Tether is the dedicated app that has to be connected via Bluetooth so that it can collect all the sensors’ readings, which are sent in real-time to the app. GPS is also used to identify the types of overtakes on different roads. Once your riding session is over, all the recorded data is automatically uploaded to the cloud along with data from other Tether users. The idea is to share all the information with the community and help it create safe cycling routes, by learning which areas in the city are safe or unsafe for cyclists.

Compatible with any type of handlebar, the Tether is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign and a pledge of approximately $175 will get you one unit, with this being a Super Early Bird offer. The estimated delivery time is February 2022.