A new cycle safety helmet with integrated lights showing turning signals and brake lights, as well as a white ‘headlight’ at the front, has more than quadrupled its original Kickstarter goal.
A team of developers in Boston devised the helmet to “solve the worldwide problem of safety when cycling on the road and at night”, with the helmet in development for over a year before coming to Kickstarter.
The company hope that by integrating lights to aid visibility as well as showing the cyclist slowing down or intending to turn, the helmet will not only fulfil its normal protective role in the event of an accident, but prevent accidents and collisions happening in the first place.
Eu-wen Ding, founder of Lumos commented: “As a group of developers and cyclists, we’ve spent a long time trying to create a solution for the countless number of people (including ourselves) who’ve felt invisible or vulnerable on the road. By enabling cyclists to more effectively signal and communicate their intentions to motorists, our hope is that this will better enable cyclist and motorist to cooperate and share the road in a way that will lead to safer roadways for all parties involved.”
The brake lights work via an integrated accelerometer, which senses when you slow down to display the red triangular, warning-style brake light. Turn signals are operated wirelessly by remote, which can be attached to the handlebars. Inside the water resistant helmet is an integrated battery, rechargable via the micro USB cable – which comes with the helmet – and recharges in the same way as you would a phone.
With 10 days still to go on the Kickstarter project at the time of writing, the original goal of $125,000 has already seen nearly 4,000 backers increasing the original figure fourfold, to a current total of $507,595.
