Patent ID: 7327239

Claim:
A visual indicator and control system for apprising an operator of a vehicle of the level of risk associated with operating the vehicle at a plurality of different speeds, comprising: a plurality of illuminable elements illuminable in a plurality of patterns, said patterns having a predetermined correlation to safety of operation at a given vehicle speed; a speed sensor coupled to a driven element of the vehicle, said speed sensor sensing upon the motion of said driven element and generating said signal indicative of vehicle speed; and a control circuit that receives said signal indicative of vehicle speed, selects an illumination pattern from said plurality of illumination patterns based upon said signal indicative of vehicle speed and outputs an illumination signal for illuminating said plurality of illuminable elements in one of said plurality of illuminable patterns to indicate the degree of safety of operation of the vehicle at the present speed, said control circuit being programmable to variably associate selected speed ranges of the vehicle with ones of said plurality of patterns indicating safety of operation based upon at least one of operator expertise and environmental conditions, said visual indicator receiving a signal indicative of vehicle speed and displaying one of said plurality of illuminable patterns in response to the signal, said visual indicator positionable proximate to the operator's line of sight while the operator is operating the vehicle and being visible to the operator when the operator is looking at a spatial position towards which the vehicle is traveling.