Brake light based on motion sensors
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NorthCascades
Posts: 10,968 Member
I haven't used this. Haven't even seen one in the flesh. But it seems like a good idea.
Here's what they say about it:
The new Fabric FLR 30 makes clever use of an accelerometer to increase brightness as speed falls. This results in a dual-purpose light that alerts traffic when you intend to slow down or stop. Compact, reliable & USB rechargeable. Designed to be mounted in multiple positions.
http://fabric.cc/lights/FLR30/
There are two important questions:
* How well does it work?
* Will car drivers understand what this is trying to communicate?
Anyway, I'm all in favor of (legitimate) safety improvements for cyclists, so I wanted to bring this to everybody's attention. I feel like the jury is still out on this, but it's probably good to be aware of.
Here's what they say about it:
The new Fabric FLR 30 makes clever use of an accelerometer to increase brightness as speed falls. This results in a dual-purpose light that alerts traffic when you intend to slow down or stop. Compact, reliable & USB rechargeable. Designed to be mounted in multiple positions.
http://fabric.cc/lights/FLR30/
There are two important questions:
* How well does it work?
* Will car drivers understand what this is trying to communicate?
Anyway, I'm all in favor of (legitimate) safety improvements for cyclists, so I wanted to bring this to everybody's attention. I feel like the jury is still out on this, but it's probably good to be aware of.
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Replies
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I'm pretty iffy on this one, mainly because I doubt that I, as a car driver, would understand that a bike has a brake light at all. Neat idea, but this one doesn't seem like it's going to enhance my safety.0
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I like the idea...not sure how well it work in the real world. If it changed from a blinky to solid bright when you slowed...might not be too bad... also would be good when riding in a group0
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As both @pedermj2002 and @columbus2015 said, I'm not sure about this one. Particularly the whole "increase brightness as the speed falls" thing. On the one hand, any light (or anything else) that potentially increases driver visibility is a plus. And even if the driver sees the light and doesn't understand what it's telling him or her, that's even better because it means they are more likely going to pay attention since it's outside of their experience. Having said all that, our brains are wired for motion. Blinky lights are far more likely to catch a driver's attention than something that is dimming or getting brighter based on motion. I'd think a simple on/off light, preferably with some randomization, would be more effective.0
