Beryl Laserlight: Make Cyclists Visible During the Night
While building bike-friendly infrastructure and upgrading road facilities are essential to minimize the number of cyclist deaths, installing bicycle lights could also be a lifesaver for cyclists during nights. Santander Cycles, a public bicycle hire scheme in London, has equipped all 11,500 Santander bikes with Blaze Laserlight (now known as Beryl Laserlight) to make the cyclists more visible and feel safer.
The Blaze Laserlight is a fixed 300 lumens front light with a built-in green laser that points towards the ground. Under a low light environment, the laser light can turn on automatically and project a green bicycle image 6 meters in front of the rider on the ground. The image keeps steady when the bike moves and flashes when the bike stops. In this way, both motorists and pedestrians ahead of the bicycle can be aware of the rider and be alert. It’s especially helpful if cyclists are in the vehicle blind spots. Also, the striking green bicycle image can be seen from any angle because of the use of laser. Moreover, the laser light can be easily charged when the rider pedals by fitting to the Santander Cycles.
By installing such lights on bicycles, people would be willing to choose to bike more since it helps build a safer traffic environment. However, there’re still some problems with Blaze Laserlight. One drawback might be the retail price ($159), which might not be affordable for everyone. Furthermore, the public needs to be educated that they need to intuitively connect the moving green bicycle image on the ground with the approaching cyclist. Otherwise, this feature may not be fully effective in making riders more visible.
Reference:
https://www.citymetric.com/transport/making-invisible-cyclist-visible-why-i-invented-laserlight-1103
https://www.cyclist.co.uk/reviews/2019/blaze-laserlight-bike-light-review
