The Chainlink

Citi Bike Runs Pilot Program With New "Blaze" Lights

What do you think about the Blaze Laserlight pilot program? Do you think it makes bike share bikes more visible?

An all too common way a crash happens in an urban setting is that a motorist makes a turn without noticing a rapidly approaching cyclist and cuts him or her off. What if you could alert a driver to your presence in advance, even in the motorist’s blindspot? A scary close call on her own bike, backed by a deep dive into safety data, inspired Emily Brooke, creator of Blaze Laserlight, to focus on improving road safety for urban cyclists.

Her high-tech light uses a laser to project a glowing green symbol of a bicycle onto the pavement about 19 feet in front of the bike, extending the rider’s “footprint” to improve safety in traffic. Citi Bike this week launched a pilot program in which Laserlight technology has been added to 250 of the blue bikes. The launch announcement cited the hope that this safety feature will help attract more female riders. Following extensive study and a favorable trial in London, Laserlight technology currently is being installed on the 11,500-bike fleet of London’s bike share system.

Full Article on Velojoy:

http://velojoy.com/2017/01/12/creator-of-blaze-laserlight-focuses-o...

Citi Bike + Blaze from Citi Bike on Vimeo.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by dav on January 29, 2017 at 10:46am
I don't think you can go wrong with more light. I personally rely on two bright flashing lights mounted at roughly rear view mirror height.
Permalink Reply by Adam C. on January 30, 2017 at 5:37am

Interesting concept. Hopefully it will be successful and spread to other cities, including Chicago.

Permalink Reply by mike w. on January 30, 2017 at 2:22pm

i'll take a wait and see attitude on the value of this. i noticed in the video's freeze frame above shows the rider well outside of a marked bike lane (because there are peds standing in the lane.) i really don't know how much help it will have, seeing as how pedestrians often wander into the path of oncoming busses, semis, and trains as well as cyclists with alarming regularity despite bright lights, loud horns, etc.

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