Australian track cycling gold medallist Anna Meares is backing a prototype helmet that uses video and 5G technology to warn of road hazards.

Anna Meares needed eyes in the back of her head to become one of track cycling's greatest sprinters.

Now the Australian two-time Olympic gold medallist and 11-time world champion is the face of new helmet technology that aims to give any cyclist much better awareness of their surroundings.

Australian company Arenberg has partnered with Telstra to develop the Heads Up Helmet prototype.

Using a video camera mounted in the helmet and a 5G connection, the helmet alerts the cyclist to road hazards in real time.

For example the helmet can sound an alert about a car door opening, giving the rider time extra time to swerve around it.

As sci-fi as it sounds, Meares says it works.

"When I tried it, I didn't know quite what to expect ... I was really pleasantly surprised with how quick it was and how clear it was in actually analysing," she said.

"It was just nice in being able to trust that technology, that it was going to at least alert me to something.

"The potential to save lives is huge. We're talking fractions of a second.

"I've been so used to winning or losing races by a thousandth of a second. If it makes a different, potentially saving lives by that margin, why not?"

As part of the helmet, a head set sits on the cyclist's ear bone and transmits alerts about road hazards.

The peak national cycling body AusCycling is also endorsing the project, which is still in development.

More than three million Australians are riding a bike every week - and 45 of them were killed in road accidents in the 12 months to April 30, 2020.

On Sunday, hours before Arenberg and Telstra went public with their helmet project, a 72-year-old cyclist died after being hit by a car on the NSW central coast.

"There's such a big increase in people who love riding a bike," said Meares, who retired from competition after the Rio Olympics and is now a recreational rider.

"The sad thing is, we're still seeing way too many (cycling fatalities) - one is too high a number.

"The biggest thing is it can deliver confidence to people who are going to ride a bike.

"People are telling me all the time - I'm too scared to get on the bike, I don't trust the road."