Blaze Laserlights – the brain child of entrepreneur and cycling enthusiast Emily Brooke – will be fitted to all Santander Cycles in London early in 2016.
To raise awareness of the development and improvement to the bikes, Santander have produced a short film ‘Santander Brings Light To The Dark Side’ in which brand ambassadors Jenson Button, Rory McIlroy and Jessica Ennis-Hill ride London’s streets with the lights and put the ‘Force’ to good use (scroll down to watch it).
The lights aim to cut down on ‘Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You’ (SMIDSY) accidents by giving advance warning of an approaching cyclist and were given a trial run earlier this year in which 250 bikes were fitted with the beams.
A street survey shows that three-quarters of cyclists felt more confident riding with the Blaze Laserlight, and half said they would be more likely to use a Santander Cycles bike at night with it fitted.
Transport for London and Mayor Boris Johnson were confident that the lights, now supported by a rear light available via Kickstarter, played an important role in cutting down on accidents so they’ll now be fitted to all 11,500 bikes.
