City cycling fears
Every year about 3,000 cyclists in the UK are killed or seriously injured on the road, most likely caused by a collision with another vehicle, and most often as the result of being caught in a blind spot. Inspired by her own passion for cycling, University of Brighton, Product Design graduate, Emily Brooke has designed a bike light, called ‘Blaze’ – a front light with super-bright LEDs, it also projects the symbol of a bike down onto the road.

Brooke’s project began in her final year looking at the challenges that city cyclists face and safety was their biggest concern. She says, ‘it was literally a case of cycling around town, thinking that bus in front of me can’t see me. If I was five metres in front it could, so I shall project myself there!’

Increased Road Presence
‘Blaze’ alerts road users, especially trucks and buses, that a cyclist is approaching. The unit uses a laser to project a bright green image of a bicycle five metres in front, in order to eliminate blind spots and hopefully save lives. She collaborated with Brighton and Hove City Council, Brighton & Hove Bus Company, road safety experts and driving psychologists to develop her idea to make the cyclist more visible and increasing their footprint on the road.

‘Blaze’ alerts road users, especially trucks and buses, that a cyclist is approaching. The unit uses a laser to project a bright green image of a bicycle five metres in front, in order to eliminate blind spots and hopefully save lives. She collaborated with Brighton and Hove City Council, Brighton & Hove Bus Company, road safety experts and driving psychologists to develop her idea to make the cyclist more visible and increasing their footprint on the road.

Proven Demand
The product was launched on the Kickstarter website. This is a crowdfunding platform for creative projects – you post a project and people support you. Brooke explains, ‘we needed to sell as many pre-orders of the product as possible and we set a target of 25,000 to reach in 27 days and we did that in less than five. We went on to raise £55,000 from 872 cyclists who want the product.’ Having proven the demand she is now in a very strong position to secure orders with larger retailers

Brooke wants ‘Blaze’ to be a brand for urban cyclists, she is building her skilled team and already has a range of five lights and new ideas for products to help city cyclists feel more secure.