In the UK they have an acronym that covers most accidents: SMIDSY, or «sorry mate, I didn’t see you». It’s pretty common, and now Volvo is out to do something about it; It has teamed up with Ericsson and Swedish helmet maker POC to make a helmet that connects via Bluetooth to your smart phone, which then broadcasts your position to Volvos that have connectivity built in as a standard feature.

Klas Bendrik, VP and group CIO at Volvo Cars, is quoted in Wareables:

…by exploring cloud-based safety systems, we are getting ever closer to eliminating the remaining blind spots between cars and cyclists and by that avoid collisions.

Of course when you watch the video, you don’t see the car stopping to allow the cyclist to continue pedalling safely; you see the cyclist get a signal and some flashing lights that tell him that there is a Volvo coming. I might have considered this helmet if it was the other way around. And of course, instead of SMIDSY, we will soon have SMYWWSH or «Sorry mate, you weren’t wearing a smart helmet.»