We’ve seen some lasers that create your own bike lanes before, and the latest comes from a University of Brighton student Emily Brooke.
Called Blaze, the small battery-powered laser projects a sharrow-like image on the road in front of the cyclist. In an interview with BikeRadar, she said it’s visible even in bright daylight and should improve awareness of the cyclist:
“I wanted to tackle the issue of safety of cyclists on city streets by increasing the visibility, footprint, and ultimately the awareness of the bicycle,” she said. “Eighty per cent of cycle accidents occur when bicycles travel straight ahead and a vehicle manoeuvres into them. The most common contributory factor is ‘failed to look properly’ on the part of a vehicle driver. The evidence shows the bike simply is not seen on city streets.
“Even when lit up like a Christmas tree a bicycle in a bus’s blind-spot is still invisible. With BLAZE, you see the bike before the cyclist and I believe this could really make a difference in the key scenarios threatening cyclists’ lives on the roads.”
