Volvo has developed a fantastic bike safety spray paint that can drastically reduce the rate of bicycle and car collisions in the UK. The idea behind Volvo LifePaint is that this great tool will act as a reflective agent so that drivers can see the cyclists as they are traveling down the roads.
LifePaint is the name that Volvo has given this new bike safety innovation. It is invisible spray paint and can be applied both to the rider and the bicycle so that there is no doubt that they will be seen in the dark hours of the night. It is washable, however, so if it were to rain, the water would wash the paint off and make your bike go back to being dark again. The company is currently working on fixing this issue.
GreyLondon, an advertising agency that has been working with Volvo on the development of this new product, supports the product wholeheartedly and also believes that it can benefit the community to have access to such a great bike safety_ tool. One of the advantages to the spray paint is that the user can easily put it on their helmet, bike, backpack, or whatever surface they like and it will not affect the fabric in any way.
Nissan has taken the lead on this and has looked into developing a reflective car paint, which they call Starpath. The idea is to help promote their energy-efficient technology, by using it on their LEAF hybrid cars. They hope to be able to use this product to raise awareness here in the United States both for the environmental friendliness of their cars, as well as for the safety of other drivers, and pedestrians that may be roaming the streets at night.
LifePaint could actually have caught on as a visual aid for other items and for other people. Parents with strollers, using it on dog leashes, and regular pedestrians who would like to become more visible to drivers can all use Volvo’s LifePaint with no ill effects to the materials that have been sprayed.
Volvo is promoting the product in hopes of its overall success and to bring awareness to the public about this ongoing safety issue. In the UK alone there are over 18,000 traffic accidents a year involving a bicyclist and a car. The idea is to help lower this number through this easy, affordable product.
LifePaint is now available for purchase and can be expected to last for one week after application on whatever object you choose, provided that it does not come into contact with water. The Netherlands has also looked into taking advantage of this new product and is looking to market it there as well.
Ideally, LifePaint and other bike safety products like it will take off and help skyrocket society into a new level of safety and security where people, bikes, and cars can travel without issue or fear of the unseen.
This new innovation could very well open the door to many other new bike safety products to come into this space.
