The battle between two- and four-wheeled road users continues, and South Africa is not alone in this problem.

According to the World Health Organisation, more than half of international traffic deaths involve vulnerable road users such as cyclists, and it’s particularly prevalent in the US.

Annalisa van den Bergh can tell you that firsthand, having cycled more than 3 000 kilometres on a trip from Denver to Los Angeles earlier this year, and narrowly avoiding a number of close calls on the road.

Writing for Quartz, she now swears by a remarkably easy and cheap safety option:

…I’ve discovered a life-saving device that allows cyclists to protect themselves and take back the road: the pool noodle.

Find one for about $2 anywhere: dollar stores, shopping malls, even the supermarket. Choose from the array of fun colors and use a bungee cord to strap this light, flexible toy to your bike rack so that it sticks out to the left side (or the right side, if you’re in a country where cars drive on the left). Start pedaling and watch as car after car moves over to the other lane.

The pool noodle may look silly, but since strapping it on our loads, it has made our lives safer every day…On roads with zero road shoulder, the pool noodle becomes our shoulder. It makes us more visible to passing cars and the 18-wheelers that used to skim us constantly.

Look, if you’re comfortable walking into coffee shops dressed head to toe in spandex, you should be fine with a pool noodle dangling off the side of your bike.

Don’t even get us started on the peeps who keep their helmets on throughout their cappuccino-quaffing session.

Clearly, the noodle is more than just a fashion statement, and often forces vehicles to give cyclists the legal safe passing distance that motorists often do not allow for.

It can also make one feel pretty powerful:

When it works, I feel like Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty, parting the soup and parting the traffic. Upon approaching my riding partner from miles away, his neon green noodle is the first thing I see…

All in all, the pool noodle gives cyclists more of a presence on the streets. For the first time, I don’t feel obliged to ride the balance beam that is the strip of asphalt between the rumble strip and the edge of the road.

Although we can’t say that the noodle eliminates road rage, we can say that every time a naysayer hollers at us now, at least they’re doing so from a safe distance.

If it increases road safety, who are we to judge?

We will have a little fun, though – if you see anybody in SA rocking the pool noodle safety tip, please send a picture to editor@2oceansvibe.com. We are hoping for the trifecta – full spandex, helmet on, and pool noodle sticking off the side of the bike.

Remember to share the road and be kind to one another.

[source:quartz]