Had a few beers? Got a puncture? Get yourself and your bike home safely in an Uber (in Seattle)

The taxi-booking app Uber is to carry bikes in one US city, giving cyclists the option to bring their cycles along for the ride.

In Seattle, the company is offering the UberPedal service. Users can select the “Promotions” tab in the Uber app and apply the promo code “PEDAL” to unlock the UberPedal vehicle view.

UberX cabs with a rack for up to two bikes, provided by car rack manufacturer Saris ,will display their availability - riders are merely asked to ensure “the driver has room to safely pull over”. The service adds $5 to each ride.

Uber writes on its website that only a limited number of cars will have bike racks during the initial launch.

The service could be used by cyclists with an unfixable mechanical, or those who drink too much of an evening and prefer to get home safely. Uber adds that another hazard could be “a torrential downpour (it is Seattle, after all)”.

The announcement comes just days away from the start of Seattle's new bike-sharing program,
Unlike shared bikes in other cities, Pronto bikes in Seattle will use seven.

As helmets are mandatory in Seattle, each bike docking station will have a helmet vending machine, which will process the helmets for sanitation after each use.