High-Tech Bike Aids Older Bikers

High-Tech Bike Could Make Cycling Safer for Older Riders

The design-challenge winner includes blind-spot monitors and emergency alerts

Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies Ride Rite has a handlebar-mounted device to help older Americans ride a bike more safely and confidently. Student designers from Virginia Tech have devised an aging-friendly bicycle designed to protect older cyclists from accidents, and even to call for help if they need it. The Ride Rite prototype with a specially angled handlebar recently won the $10,000 first prize in the Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge. To help aging eyes and necks that don’t turn as easily, the Ride Rite is equipped with blind-spot monitors that employ laser pulses to detect vehicles or other bikes approaching on either side. When that happens, built-in video cameras activate to let the cyclist see potential hazards on a screen mounted on the handlebar. The screen also would display maps to help cyclists avoid getting lost. Ride Rite uses gyroscopes to detect when a cyclist takes a spill. If he or she isn’t able to get up and get the bike upright within a set time interval, the Ride Rite would call 911 and also notify a cyclist's emergency contact. The student designers’ research included interviews with residents of a local retirement community. “A lot of people do stationary biking,” explained industrial design major Eric Lord. “But we looked at the mental health benefits of being outside and saw it was a lot more beneficial.” The students hope to turn the design into a marketable product, and already they have sparked initial interest from potential backers. Associate Professor Brook Kennedy said the handlebar is an example of how design can be used to help older people develop an exercise habit and ward off age-related disability.

Also of Interest

Cancel You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. The provider’s terms, conditions and policies apply. Please return to AARP.org to learn more about other benefits. Your email address is now confirmed. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. You can also by updating your account at anytime. You will be asked to register or log in. Cancel Offer Details Disclosures

Close In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails related to AARP volunteering. Once you confirm that subscription, you will regularly receive communications related to AARP volunteering. In the meantime, please feel free to search for ways to make a difference in your community at Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again.