Biking is a great way to get around, especially as concerns mount over global warming, gas prices and emissions—all of which are vehicle-centric issues. For those who want to get in shape or maintain their fitness levels and reduce their carbon footprints, bikes are an easy and convenient way to commute.
Cities are constantly making improvements to their bike paths and roads to better accommodate this alternative travel method. But even with laws in place to promote safety and encourage drivers to share the road properly, bikers still face dangers from cars, unsafe paths and even pedestrians. Now, one investor wants to offer protection from another angle—the bike itself.
Meet the Babel Bike
Crispin Sinclair, the owner of Babel Bike Company, claims to have designed a bike that will keep its rider safe from injury, even in the event of a crash or car accident. He calls the Babel Bike—a semi-recumbent bike with a cage around the rider—the “world’s safest bicycle.”
On the website for the Babel Bike, Sinclair claims that he was inspired to create a safer bike after he was involved in an accident with another vehicle. A driver made a left turn without checking his mirrors or using his turn signal and hit Sinclair, who was riding on his bicycle. The bike was destroyed in the collision, but Sinclair managed to survive and immediately set out to make biking safer in a new way.
He wrote that he “came up with the idea of a safety cell for a bicycle. It would be similar to the roll cage that racing cars have, and for the first time ever on a bicycle you would be inside a safety cage and strapped in and wearing a seat belt—designed so you would be pushed away by a turning truck or bus—not crushed by it.”
In designing the Babel Bike, Sinclair and his team rejected many other options for safer structures, including a variety of motors, seats, braking systems and seat belt designs. Prototypes were tested against huge trucks to ensure that the riders would survive a crash with even the heaviest of vehicles. The final result was the Babel Bike, which features custom safety seats, combination steel foot protectors and bike locks.
U.S. Compliance Laws
The bike is intended to be pedaled, but it also has an optional electric assistance feature should the rider choose to utilize it. The electric motor will provide power in compliance with U.S. safety laws, which regulate speeds up to 20 miles per hour for electrical motors.
Bicyclists are allowed to pedal faster but motor speed is restricted. The Babel Bike’s electric version can be used by any rider age 14 or older without a license, insurance or any form of registration.
Sinclair hopes that his bike will encourage more people to ride bikes rather than drive cars worldwide, and will reduce emissions, pollution and the diseases they cause. Additionally, he hopes to keep all bikers—new and old—safe on the roads no matter who is around.
At Levine Law, our Denver personal injury lawyers represent any bikers who have been involved in car accidents as a result of a driver’s negligence. To discuss your case, contact a Levine attorney today.
