TWO EURO DOOR ALERT DEVICE CAN PREVENT THOUSANDS OF CYCLING ACCIDENTS.

Every year, thousands of cyclists and motorcyclists are injured in road collisions due to car doors opening suddenly. Now tech company Semcon has devised a solution, Life Sticker, which users can easily stick to their door mirrors and costs less than two euros to produce. It can be attached to any vehicle and alerts the driver when cyclists are approaching. A prototype has been developed and is ready to be industrialised.

As cycling increases, we are seeing an increase in the number of accidents; not least in urban environments where lots of people all have to share the space available. According to WHO, there are more than 50 million traffic accidents worldwide each year. One cause is what is known as dooring, where people in parked cars open their doors into passing traffic. In a survey of 1500 cyclists, 85 per cent say they have encountered this problem.

“Smart technology allows us to actually save lives on the roads. But to make a difference, the solution has to be inexpensive and available to as many people as possible. Although we are using advanced technology, our aim is to ensure it costs less than two euros to produce,” says Markus Granlund, CEO at Semcon.

The latest technology in a button
Semcon’s Life Sticker is a patent-pending innovation that is easily secured to the vehicle’s door mirror and warns the driver not to open the door when a cyclist is approaching from the rear. The solution is based on a contact between the door warning device and cyclists’ phones. This technology, which is gathered together in a tiny, button-like console, includes low-energy Bluetooth, spherical solar cells, movement sensors and directional antennas.

“The technology powers itself thanks to the solar cells and no connection to the in-car systems is required – all the user has to do is stick it on. An initial prototype has already been completed, and if we find the right partner Life Sticker may be available on the market within a year,” says Basim Ali, Tech Lead at Semcon’s innovation lab.

Winner of internal competition
The concept was developed as part of an international competition at Semcon. Staff from all over the world was encouraged to develop technical solutions on the basis of the UN’s sustainability targets. The winner, Duokai Wang from Semcon’s Shanghai office, came up with the idea of the door warning device with a view to reducing the number of traffic accidents all over the world. Life Sticker has taken shape in partnership with Semcon’s innovation lab.

“A friend of mine was seriously injured after having cycled into a car door that was opened right in front of him. This made me think about how we could avoid such accidents using smart technology. Now we have a solution that could actually make a difference,” says Duokai Wang.

Facts:
There are 50 million traffic accidents every year, and 1.25 million people die on the roads –90 per cent of these accidents happen in developing countries. The UN is aiming to halve that figure by 2020. More than a quarter of deaths in accidents on the roads involve cyclists and motorcyclists. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs358/en/

The survey of the number of cyclists who had experienced dooring was carried out on cycling forums in Sweden, the UK, the US and Canada. A total of 1500 responses were received.

Pictures, etc. can be downloaded here.

Find out more at semcon.com/lifesticker

For more information, please contact:

Per Nilsson, head of communications and marketing, Semcon
Tel.: +46 (0)739 737 200
Email: per.nilsson@semcon.com

Semcon is an international technology company that develops products based on human needs and behaviours. We strengthen our customers’ competitiveness by always starting from the end user, because the person who knows most about the user’s needs creates the best products and the clearest benefits to humans. Semcon collaborates mainly with companies in the automotive, industry, energy and life science sectors. With more than 2,000 specialised employees, Semcon has the ability to take care of the entire product development cycle, from strategy and technology development to design and product information. Semcon was founded in Sweden in 1980 and has offices in over 30 locations in eight different countries. In 2016, the Group reported annual sales of SEK 1.8 billion. Read more on www.semcon.com

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