Massive Audi electric SUVs are the "future of bike safety" apparently

This is utter rubbish to be filed alongside Volvo's paint for cyclists.

I worked on a proof of concept research project a few years ago here in Ireland in conjunction with a local authority around notifications at roundabouts. It relied on the roundabout being kitted out with beacons and an app on the users phone would report where the cyclist was on the roundabout and where they might be going (though it was phone based, it didn't necessarily need be a cyclist). This would then have the ability to notify vehicles, or other interactive infrastructure.

While the concept worked, the council quite rightly got cold feet for a number of reasons. Firstly, the solution pushes responsibility onto the vulnerable road user. Following from that, what about users who either didn't have a supported smartphone, didn't have the app, or refused to use said app on privacy grounds (it's effectively tracking you). In the abscense of blanket coverage of vulnerable road users, their great fear was being sued either by somebody not covered by the above reason, or somebody who had bought in, but was hit by a driver not paying attention, or not receiving the alerts for whatever reason - i.e. the council by providing the infra would be assuming additional responsibility that should be borne by drivers.

While I started the project thinking it might be a good solution, by the time it finished my mindset had changed significantly

This is a great idea. Make drivers pay even less attention to the road and make them more dependent on the tech to do the really simple job of concentrating on driving. 

All of these tech innovations ignore the fundamental issues with drivers. They don't pay attention when they drive and they willfully drive in a dangerous manner because the consequences to themselves are so low. 

That guy that passed me on a blind corner didn't miss me, he just didn't care. If something came around the corner at the same time he would just swing back over and probably take me out. He would then claim it was a mistake and probably get a few hundred quid fine and 6 points. If that took him to 12 points he would claim that he needs to drive for his living and be spared a ban.

Tech isn't the answer. Better driver awareness and harsher punishments are. 

If Audi really wants to improve safety level of their vehicles, there is a very simple solution, cover their logos, even better with a Zastava logo. For mysterious (or not) reasons the worst drivers drive Audi, BMW and above Polo VW from the mainstream brands (really mysteriously, Merc drivers, drive normally).

I do really believe though that with fully autonomous vehicles, road safety will be massively improved for all. Traffic and CO2 footprint would not go away, but it is a good start in general.

The "one and one thing only" drivers involved in collisions with bike riders say is: "I didn't see the cyclist."

Incorrect as not all drivers say that - Dr Helen Measures for example:

https://road.cc/content/news/95681-pharmaceutical-consultant-who-killed-...

On the point of "massive electric suvs are the future for cars" yes I think they probably after Fords announcement to retire the Fiesta.

It doesnt sound significant at first glance, but the reasons they are doing it, small cars arent that profitable for them,bigger cars are and they are switching to electric car production.

But small cars dont have a big enough base platform for you to place the batteries in to get the range you need,so Ford couldnt convert the Fiesta to be electric powered even if it was profitable and they wanted to.

Consequently they arent expecting to make Fiesta sized cars in the future, and where Ford leads the rest will inexorably follow.

So we will see over the next twenty years a drop in the number of "small" cars and an increase of bigger, probably SUV sized, electric car replacements on the road instead, which obviously has impacts on available road space.

The best thing Audi could do for the safety of other road users is turn the entire car into a Faraday cage.

even the names - C-V2X,  Q4 e-tron, are so pathetic. For cars that essentially go to the supermarket or the local primary school they sound like Troop Carriers. (Which I suppose is the point) 

Doubt this'll help much, people have been crashing into bridges and houses for years now which are clearly marked in reality, never mind in datasets for software to flag up.

"The War Memorial came out of nowhere - it must have been swerving all over the road.  It's been there for over half a century?  Sorry mate, I just didn't see it..."

So to make this work, will Audi supply me a free beacon for my bike upon request? The system clearly has flaws but, hey, I'll take anything that gives me the slightest edge if it is provided free.

If you read between the lines of anything from the VW group in the last couple of years it's all about paving the way for driverless vehicles.I'm sure their future business model is the end of private vehicles and a pay to ride driverless network of vehicles.This system is all about connecting up everything,for now it may seem absurd but in the future part of allowing the use of driverless vehicles may be that all other road users have to be connected and visible to the network.

An excellent lesson in how to reinforce a stereotype...

Very useful tech for blind drivers or for those annoying situations where you accidentally put blackout paint all over your windscreen.

Walked into town today, observed drivers along the way:

Tesla driver, gleefully demonstrating the iPad thingy to his front seat passenger, reaching right across and fully engrossed in the screen interface,

Woman with her phone propped up against the instrument binnacle, reaching her hand between the spokes of the steering wheel to tap out her text messages,

Woman with a phone holder discreetly positioned low on the driver's door, texting away,

Bloke with the phone pressed to his ear, no shame,

Bloke in fancy motor, darkened windows so I couldn't see much, WhatsApp gap opening up in front as the lights changed before he belatedly surged ahead, face looking down.

It's pretty bloody obvious why motorists are not seeing cyclists! They are getting by with at best half an eye on the traffic, filling in the gaps in observation with the assumption that everything on the road must be at least as large and visually imposing as a car.

The technological fix is as andystow shows below.

The real problem is that these Tiger tank SUV Audis will still be controlled by Audi drivers.

"Audi's senior director of connected services Anupam Malhotra told her the "one and one thing only" drivers involved in collisions with bike riders say is: "I didn't see the cyclist.""

In which case they should have their driving licence taken away. If you admit that you're not looking properly when driving you shouldn't be driving.

Secondly I believe that one of the reasons some people drive so badly is that they have unwavering faith in the technology in their cars to protect them from all danger, and as a consequence don't engage their brain when driving. We need less technology and more driving skills, not the opposite. 

The stupidity of this idea is monumental, just as it was when Ford proposed it.  If the driver can't see a perfectly legally clad and lit cyclist, are they going to see a light on the dashboard?  Maybe there is an audio warning too, but when they're blasting out heavy metal they aren't going to hear that either.

The most monumentally stupid thing is that the designers can come up with this utter crap and claim that it's the "future of bike safety": NO.  I'd love to see the design brief they were given, something like "Put in something to show we care about cyclists, but make sure it won't actually work."  Incredible; didn't they read the slaggings that Ford got?

Peter Norton is absolutely right and it merely reinforces the impression that roads are for cars and anything else is there under sufferance, only with the kind permission of drivers.

With all that tech and the driver still doesn't deviate from their path 

As long as the cyclist gets a button to give some feedback, it's probably a good idea...

I've got an idea, easily implemented with a neural net and an interior view camera.

*DING* PUT THE PHONE AWAY!

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*DING* PUT THE PHONE AWAY!

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*DING* VEHICLE STOPPED. PUT THE PHONE AWAY TO RESTART.