While bicycling is good for not only your health but can be used to remove the fog from your head, a danger of this type of exercise is accidentally being hit by a distracted driver. Statistics back from 2010 highlight that nearly 618 innocent lives were lost in the U.S. that year alone, and that doesn’t even account for injured riders. In help protect the lives of people just wishing to take in some fresh air and the beauty of the open outdoors, Volvo has jumped wheels first into the technology space and has unveiled a new solution that could drastically reduce the amount of bicycle fatalities we are seeing.

Officially unveiled at the Geneva Auto Sow, the platform can signal drivers when a cyclist is on the road and will abruptly stop the vehicle if the cyclist gets too close to the front of the car.

Smart Planet reported, “The new system is made up of a radar unit that’s built into the car’s grille and a camera that’s placed in the interior rearview mirror. The radar is used to spot objects in front of the car and determine the distance from the car to the object. The high-resolution camera analyzes the type of object and tracks the moving pattern of pedestrians and cyclists. All of that information is constantly gathered in the system’s central control where analysis of traffic situations is on-going while you drive.”

Although a pretty cool idea that could possibly prompt couch potatoes covered in crumbs to finally dust off their bicycle with the basket in the front and bell on the handle bars and hit the pavement, it is not the first idea that was created with the goal of enhancing automotive safety. In fact, my parent’s recent acquisition of the Chevrolet-made Volt boasts the ability to notify the person behind the wheel with a visual alert when they are located in too close proximity to the car in front of them due to a system coined Forward Collision. Its benefits are avoiding a crash before it has the chance of happening or reducing the potential injuries that a front on collision can cause.

To get a better understanding of how the intutiive platform works, watch the video below:

It even will produce a beeping sound when one of the lines that separate the lanes of a multi lane highway is crossed over even a tad.

As people’s lives before more busy over time and they feel the need to rush and speed anytime they are on-the-go, solutions that can help protect the public will be put in the spotlight. However, wouldn’t you rather that option as opposed to resting for eternity under the bright lights found in the morgue? I know I would.