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When Design Fiction Goes Too Far?

By Ray Hu - November 13, 2014

in Cars | Urbanism

This thing is making rounds and we'd normally be too embarrassed to post what by all means must be a hoax, but for the fact that this souped-up bike helmet is a compelling example of design fiction. As Bike Snob pointed out, Toby King's "Smart Hat" essentially turns a cyclist—specifically, a cyclist's head—into a car. It's a patently absurd concept that, as far as this bike nerd can tell, is intended to insinuate that cyclists and motorists are very different classes of road user indeed, and that urban planning and policy ought to reflect that simple fact.

However, as the story goes, the Sydney-based designer (whose web presence is otherwise non-existent) went so far as to present the safety device to a local city council as a concept for licensing cyclists... and Mosman councillor Simon Menzies reportedly approves. I can't speak to the climate of cycling culture Down Under, but I find it hard to believe that the mysterious Mr. King isn't just pulling the proverbial ~~wool~~HUD over our eyes.

Thoughts?

Blue Sky Thinking

Via Road.cc

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KROBUZ

10 years ago

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Iâ€™m going to go on a tangent and comment instead on the idea that cyclists need to be registered and licensed. It pisses me TFO. First off, bicycles are not cars. All of the safety infrastructure, traffic control devices and the need for motor vehicle registrations is solely due to the fact that motor vehicles in an urban environment drain the system of financial resources for maintenance and repairs; present a serious public safety problem to everyone especially those who are not in vehicles such as pedestrians and cyclists; and are operated by many people who have no clue what they are doing and should not be operating a 2-ton+ vehicle in public spaces at all anyway.

Bicycles are not cars. Bicycles do not contribute to the decay of property value. Bicycles do not contribute to traffic jams. Bicycles do not require a minimum of 12â€™ wide lanes to operate. Bicyclists do not need traffic control devices to tell them when are where to go because a cyclist is not isolated from his environment the way a motorist is. Also, a one-acre parking lot holds less than 90 cars while the safe size lot can hold more than a couple thousand bicycles.

Financially, more than 65% of the cost for road infrastructure in the US is subsidized. The average lifetime of asphalt roadway carrying passenger cars in states where the ground is frozen for a solid month is slightly over a year. Even on new surfaces, pot holes must be filled annually. The average lifespan of asphalt pavement on bicycle and pedestrian paths exceeds 7 years. That time could be longer if local parks departments didnâ€™t patrol bicycle paths with motor vehicles.

Finally, requiring bicycles to be registered limits the amount of people who will be cycling or, more inevitably, criminalizes those who will not register they bicycles. It also places a heavier burden on the poor.

If the hope in the end is to create safer roads, then the locals should tackle the real danger (cars) by either enforcing the existing laws or seek better way to incubate those from motor vehicles. Forcing bicycles to be registered because cars have to be registered is like requiring drivers to hold a aviation license because pilots need one.

That helmet looks dumb.

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Erik

10 years ago

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Can we focus on the real issue? The GPS is obviously not working, the map doesnt match the road at all.
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Ken J

10 years ago

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No Darth Helmet comments?
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Eric

10 years ago

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I will say it again, just because you can that does not mean you should! What instructor lets a student design projects like this?
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spurge

10 years ago

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"Smarth Phone"
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carlos

10 years ago

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what is this?! NO!
that looks heavy, i wouldn't wanna ride around with that.

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zack

10 years ago

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Instead of putting forth plans for usable bicycle infrastructure like the Dutch have successfully done, the Australian response is a helmet which looks designed to keep people off bikes??

It seems there is an epidemic of people putting forth designs that have had no prior research or thought towards the problems being "solved". I think the title of "designer" is used very loosely in this instance.
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Nik

10 years ago

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As a designer and cyclist from Sydney I will speak for everybody else. No-one but Mosman Council and the one "designer" that created this monstrosity believe that this looks good, will work or will help society in any way.
Ignoring the registration and technology side of the helmet surely just the added weight on the back and top of the helmet (neck) will cause a lot spinal injuries when an accident does happen.
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chris

10 years ago

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lol, air damped crash bar

can i get it with MIPS?
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