Car door alert device helps prevent cycling accidents

The patent-pending device, which warns car users about approaching cyclists, costs less than two EURO to produce.

Tech company Semcon has invented the Life Sticker, which attaches to a car’s wing mirror and warns drivers with a flashing light not to open the door if a cyclist is approaching. The device, which is patent-pending, uses the latest technology yet is able to be produced for just two EURO per unit.

The Life Sticker is the winning concept from an internal competition at Semcon to find a technical solution based on the UN’s sustainability targets. The winner and designer, Duokai Wang from Semcon’s Shanghai office, came up with the idea for the Life Sticker as a way to reduce the worldwide number of traffic accidents – there are 50 million traffic accidents every year, and a quarter of the deaths on the road involve cyclists and motorcyclists. The UN is aiming to halve that figure by 2020.

Semcon are currently looking for manufacturing partners and claim that the device could be brought to the market within a year. The Life Sticker works by connecting the car’s door warning device with the cyclists’ phones through Bluetooth. “The technology powers itself thanks to the solar cells, and no connection to the in-car system is required. All the user has to do is stick it on,” says Basim Ali, Technical Lead at Semcon’s Innovation Lab.

Semcon aren’t the only company producing tech to help with road safety. Direct Line have created this interactive pedestrian crossing, and this bicycle bell that can link up to a user’s car stereo. Are there any other ways that tech can help keep you safe on the road?