Anything which makes users of the road safer is always a good thing. That is why one of the best ideas relating to road safety which I have come across recently is something I am going to briefly talk about. Whilst some of you will already know that I’m a car man, you’ll be quite surprised that I am not going to talk about cars for this one, but for the greater unknown in my internal combustion life, motorbikes.
Reevu are a helmet manufacturer, more specifically, a motorbike helmet manufacturer and they have just launched an updated version of one of their products, the MSX1. A helmet yes, but this one has a rear view mirror. Something which is quite an achievement in itself, managing to contain all the necessary parts into such a confined environment, whilst keeping the general form factor of a helmet and making it compliant with a number of stringent regulations which apply to helmets. A design success in my honest opinion.
The mirror is out of the line of sight for the user, a bit like the rear view mirror in a car, and its mechanism is fully mechanical, no electronic parts which would need charged up, ultimately making it safer as there is no chance of it dying in the middle of a journey.
The combination of the mirror and the helmet is one of pure genius. Unlike the mirrors in a car, or daresay on a motorbike, it should only have to be adjusted once in the lifetime of the helmet, as the helmet tends to be used by one person and one person only. So once you get the positioning right, you’re set. It also reduces the need for the rider to turn around to check behind them, or to see behind them at certain points of their journey, though for safety, it should be used in conjunction with all of the other safety techniques taught.
It’s great when you find something which has been designed to make peoples lives safer and easier rather than just to make money.
