Garmin and Waze are teaming up on an interesting new safety feature that could give cyclists a little extra protection when sharing the road with cars – by making cyclists themselves show up in Waze.

The new feature allows cyclists using a compatible Garmin Edge bike computer or Garmin smartwatch to share their location through Garmin’s LiveTrack feature. That location can then appear in real time to nearby drivers using Waze, with cyclists displayed as moving icons on the road.

As someone who recently joined the Garmin family myself with a smartwatch for tracking my cycling, running, and other activities, this is exactly the type of feature I love seeing added to the platform.

I’ve long maintained that safety – or more accurately, the perception that cycling isn’t safe – is one of the biggest impediments to getting more people onto bikes.

That’s especially true in the US, where cyclists are often forced to share roads with cars instead of enjoying the kind of widespread separated cycling infrastructure found in many more bike-friendly countries. And when a cyclist and a multi-ton vehicle have to occupy the same space, making sure the driver knows that cyclist is there can make a big difference.

Of course, an icon on Waze isn’t going to magically make cycling safe. It won’t replace protected bike lanes, better road design, slower vehicle speeds, or attentive drivers.

But I can certainly imagine situations where it could help. Riding at night or in poor visibility, approaching a blind curve, or simply traveling on a narrow road where a driver might otherwise come upon a cyclist unexpectedly are all situations where an advance warning could be useful.

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