RTL News - Safer cycling through inverted bike light? 'You're more visible'
Why, as a cyclist, do you have a lamp that illuminates the street but not yourself? With that idea, two students at TU Delft have designed an inverted bicycle lamp, where you as a cyclist are illuminated yourself and thus become a lot more visible. Does that also increase safety?
The Ziemi, as the light is called, originated as a study project in which Elianne Koetzier and Luci Santema had to design something for a bicycle. After completing the project, the students decided to further develop and market the product. Some 2,500 have since been sold.
What makes the bike light different from a normal light? "The lighting is focused on the limbs, such as the knees and feet," Santema says. And therefore not on the road, like how it is with standard lights. "Other road users recognize you as a cyclist right away. Instead of just a bicycle light, a cyclist now gets a human aspect."
Santema says that has many advantages. "A much larger area is illuminated: the entire lower body," she says. "Also, bicycle lights are getting brighter, blinding other road users. This is not the case with the Ziemi. Finally, you are always illuminated and not dependent on other lighting." Although an additional light that illuminates the street is still necessary, because as a cyclist you are obliged to have it.
Unsafe behavior
The idea behind the bicycle light is a good one, traffic psychologist Gerard Tertoolen believes. "You are highly visible and see a person instead of a small light. That's nice for motorists," he explains. "It has an advantage especially up close, because then you can see what the other person is going to do. A cyclist can make unexpected movements and so you see that faster because of such a light."
Still, the traffic psychologist also makes comments. "In a general sense, if people feel safer, they exhibit more unsafe behavior." As an example, he gives people with winter tires, who he says take more risks than people driving with summer tires. "So people tend to compensate for their 'safe tool.'"
Although, according to Tertoolen, that is no reason not to make things safer. "It is a tricky phenomenon, though," he believes. "You have to be careful that it doesn't become a circus on the road. With extra lights it becomes a kind of amusement park and that's going to affect safety in the long run. On the other hand, you have to do everything you can to increase safety."