Every year, 1.3 million people
worldwide die in traffic accidents. Children and young people bear the
brunt of this tally: injuries caused in accidents are the leading cause of
death for people between the ages of 5 and 29. Moreover, almost half of all
those who die from road traffic injuries are pedestrians, cyclists, and
motorcyclists, according to the World Health Organization. Traffic accidents
are a serious public health problem that globally cost countries an average of
3% of their gross domestic product (GDP), or up to 5% in the case of middle and
low-income countries.
It's a situation that young
Colombian Alexander Nieves (32 years old) has experienced firsthand. In 2018 he survived a road accident, being
hit by a bus while riding a bicycle. The cause of the accident was that the
driver did not see him properly. To prevent deaths and accidents due to lack of
visibility on roads and streets, this mechatronics engineer has created Bigo
Safe, with an objective that he himself defines as "a project to make
us more visible." His idea consists of a portable and rechargeable
indicator light, controlled through an app, which helps prevent traffic
accidents by facilitating the visibility of users of electric scooters,
cyclists, and motorcyclists. Its mobile application, called Bi go!, also allows
users to consult and navigate safe routes and find mechanical help and
assistance. Thanks to this breakthrough, Nieves has become one of the winners
of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35 Latin America 2023 in Spanish.
"It is a technology that
integrates hardware and software to solve the mobility and safety of people who
move every day by bicycle, motorcycle, scooter or wheelchair," explains
the creator of Bigo Safe. The luminous system is controlled without using arms
or hands, only with head movements, as Nieves explains. Both during the day and
at night, the LED lights warn vehicles behind of the direction the user is
going to take, as the user has previously uploaded his route through the app.
The device lights up whenever the driver of the two-wheeled vehicle is in
motion and, when he stops, a braking signal lights up. It has a magnetic system
that allows it to be attached to any surface, as well as a lifeline in case of
a fall that automatically alerts emergency services.
In addition to saving lives, Bigo
Safe has a social impact program for girls and boys who ride bicycles to school
in rural areas of Colombia, to whom it donates one device for every 100 sold.
Finally, Nieves emphasizes that his development "is compact, simple and
effective in its operation, unique in its control system."
Present so far in Australia,
Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and Colombia, Nieves' goal is to expand his
innovation to other countries and reach large cities in Mexico. From there, it
seeks to save the lives of the most vulnerable road users in the United States
and the rest of Latin America. Traffic accidents know no borders, and neither
does Bigo Safe.
