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Jaguar Land Rover is developing a new range of technologies which will use colours, sounds and touch to help prevent accidents involving bicycles and motorbikes.

Sensors are used to detect a hazard while Bike Sense technology will make the driver aware of it by using lights and sounds through the speaker nearest to the hazard.

If a bicycle or motorbike is coming up the road behind the car, Bike Sense will detect if it is overtaking or coming past the vehicle and the top of the car seat will extend to ‘tap’ the driver on the left or right shoulder. The idea is that the driver will then instinctively look over that shoulder to identify the potential hazard.

As the cyclist gets closer to the car, a matrix of LED lights on the window sills, dashboard and windscreen pillars will glow amber and then red as the bike approaches. The movement of these red and amber lights across these surfaces will also highlight the direction that the bike is taking.

Director of research and technology at Jaguar Land Rover Dr Wolfgang Epple said: “Human beings have developed an instinctive awareness of danger over thousands of years.

“Bike Sense takes us beyond the current technologies of hazard indicators and icons in wing mirrors, to optimising the location of light, sound and touch to enhance this intuition. This creates warnings that allow a faster cognitive reaction as they engage the brain’s instinctive responses. If you see the dashboard glowing red in your peripheral vision, you will be drawn to it and understand straight away that another road user is approaching that part of your vehicle.

“By engaging the instincts, Bike Sense has the potential to bridge the gap between the safety and hazard detection systems in the car and the driver and their passengers. This could reduce the risk of accidents with all road users by increasing the speed of response and ensuring the correct action is taken to prevent an accident happening.”

Bike Sense will help to prevent vehicle doors opening into the path of bikes when parked with the use of lights and will also be able to identify if a pedestrian or cyclist is crossing the road even if obscured by a parked vehicle. Bike Sense will make the accelerator pedal vibrate or feel stiff, so the driver knows not to move the car forwards until the hazard has been avoided.

Check out video footage of the technology here: