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news
Life Paint.pngPaint yourself visible at night: Volvo develops new Life Paint for cyclists
Let’s face it, no-one likes wearing a day-glo vest with reflective strips - but to ride without one, especially on gloomy nights, is risky.
But what if your normal everyday clothes could become completely reflective at the push of a button?
Enter Life Paint, a new safety spray developed by Volvo, which they say is washable, completely transparent and only shows up in the beam of headlights.
LifePaint is a unique reflective safety spray which claims Volvo is aimed at increasing the visibility and safety of cyclists, and other vulnerable road users. Invisible by daylight, it glows brightly in the glare of car headlights, making the invisible, visible at night.
Though designed for safer cycling, LifePaint can be applied to any fabric — clothes, shoes, pushchairs, children’s backpacks — even dog leads and collars. It is transparent, washes off and will not affect the colour or surface of your chosen material, lasting for approximately one week after application.
LifePaint is being trialed in six London and Kent-based cycle shops, including Peloton in Spitalfields, where cyclists can get one of 2000 cans being given away.
If LifePaint proves popular, the project will expand nationally and internationally.
Volvo has a ‘2020 vision’ that “by 2020, no person will be killed, or seriously injured, by a new Volvo.”
To that end the company has been working on new anti-collision technology, Intellisafe, a safety system which uses a combination of radar sensors and cameras to identify other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists and automatically brake if the driver fails to take the necessary action.
This works together with Volvo’s Active Bending Headlights, which adjust left to right according to the steering input to help see round corners better.
Adrian Walsh, Director of RoadSafe, said: “Driving a car is a complex and demanding task. In poor light conditions it becomes even harder, especially in towns and cities where the road is often shared with cyclists and pedestrians.
“This innovative technology will certainly help to make it a safer place and it is really encouraging to see a manufacturer reaching out to make pedestrians and cyclists less vulnerable.”
Nick Connor, Managing Director at Volvo Car UK, said: “Every year more than 19,000 cyclists are injured on the UK’s roads. At Volvo, we believe that the best way to survive a crash is not to crash, and are committed to making the roads a safer place by reducing the number of accidents.
“Volvo is a world-leader in safety technology, and we are proud to be extending our reach beyond just those driving our cars. By making cyclists increasingly visible as well as increasing the safety capabilities of our cars, we are doing our utmost to protect everyone on the road.”
Click here to find out where you can pick up your own can of Life Paint.
Latest Comments
- Hirsute 1 hour 23 min ago
Radar tells me their closing speed, if they are slowing and how far away. Then I decide to say a prayer. The change of light pattern is incidental.
- lonpfrb 1 hour 43 min ago
Quite so, which is why our village 20mph zone covers the whole residential extent. Of course, enforcement is another thing..
- lonpfrb 2 hours 9 min ago
No, that's very doubtful while proper testing would be fully destructive.
- TheBillder 2 hours 55 min ago
In that £1000 exactly scenario, beginners should probably be made aware that pedals will be extra.
- don simon fbpe 3 hours 23 min ago
What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
- chrisonabike 4 hours 4 min ago
The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
- ktache 4 hours 43 min ago
Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
- Veganpotter 5 hours 40 min ago
My bet is that all these tires popping off are from people with bad pressure gauges or they're simply just putting too much air in on purpose. ...
- chrisonabike 6 hours 56 min ago
David9694 - you were right! These new autonomous vehicles really are conspiring to run out of control!...
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41 comments
I'd like some if it were permanent.
I see that there are three products Krylon K03150 Glowz Aerosol, Rust-Oleum 267026 Glow in The Dark Spray, and Reflect-All on amazon.com
Rust-Oleum AE0010005E8 is on amazon.co.uk
There are a variety of non clear luminous paints on aliexpress
http://tinyurl.com/luminousaliexpress
neildmoss has a good point though.
I ma stick some dollar store (100 yen shop) relfective rime tape to my frame.
Good concept, but doesn't last long and the effect makes the bike look cheap. The coating will just dissolve on a rainy day with your bike parked outside.
Eclipse cycles from Canada makes awesome single speed commuters with better reflective technology and is a lot brighter.
www.eclipsecycles.com
These guys also sport Brooks seats and handlebar wraps! Score!
Judging by the article, this looks to be more intended to be used on clothing - there is already a large range of retro/reflective or otherwise hi-visibility products for applying more permanently to bikes and other less floppy accessories.
Edit.or were you referring to the tape ? Theres a few examples of that which don't look tatty and lay well if so.
Hi @Fukawitribe!
Yeah, I was actually referring more to the bike.
Eclipse Cycles' retro reflective coatings are apparently industrial strength so you don't have to worry about potentially toxic drippage, re-coating or loss of brilliance.
I've seen some out here in Canada and come to realize that if you can see the bike moving in the dark, you will definitely notice the person riding it.
I guess it's just excessive to spray your clothing AND the bike.
It definitely is a good idea for night joggers and people walking in the dark alone.
I went and had a look at the LifePaint web site. At the bottom of the page it says "in association with Albedo100".
I went to their web site and found that they offer a permanent spray product, suitable (they claim) for bikes, tyres, bike helmets, fence posts etc.
It's not invisible like their clothing range, but might be of interest to some.
(£18 for 200ml +p&p)
[[[[[ £18...?? For 3 or 4 quid there's reflective tape. Stick it where you want it (ooh er, matron!), and you will light up like a beacon.
When you mention Volvo and Renault trucks in the same comment you should know that they are the same company. The truck division are differently owned to the car divisions and Volvo trucks bought Renault trucks.
Volvo cars is owned by the Chinese, trucks are not.
Volvo's 2020 vision should be enshrined in EU law. Make the car manufacturer jointly liable for each and every KSI involving their vehicles and watch the uncrashable cars roll of the production lines.
That's a mighty big brush you're using. What happens when that law is rolled out to all other vehicle manufacturers, including bikes?
I applaud Volvo for the work they are doing in this area, and whilst I agree that the onus shouldn't be on the cyclist to not get hit, it doesn't hurt to stack the odds in our favour
Great idea. I would definitely use it.
I'm all for anything that makes us that little bit safer.
It's a shame it washes off after a week - it would be good to spray the bike and forget it. But since the objective is profit as well as safety, the manufacturer has to ensure repeat purchase...
It washes off... so, does it bio-degrade or does it add more crap to land and sea, poisoning everything?
I asked this elsewhere, and no one seemed to know. Rather worrying.
[[[[[ Let us spray? Er, no, not until drivers, b4 every trip, spray their eyes with Optrex....and remove all the in-car toys and gadgets contributing to some of the 19,000 collisions cyclists currently endure. But hey, why stop at spraying ourselves? How about attaching flags to our helmets, to flap in the breeze, three feet up! Yes, and a (compulsory) V.w.d.,--vocal warning device--on the 'bars, repeating over & over, "Bicycle! Bicycle! Bicycle!" at 50 decibels? The words "done up" and "Christmas tree" occur to one, innit.
P.R.
http://www.bennetts.co.uk/misc/latest-news/2009/bikers-say-no-to-volvo/#...
There seem to be some people on here who will find fault with anything. If it was announced that all cars, lorries etc were banned and only cyclists could use the roads they would still complain.
I don't think you'll find many who want to ban cars, remember that car ownership is higher amongst adult cyclists than the general population.
It isn't wrong to make yourself visible, it will help avoid getting hit but won't stop it (there are plenty of people on here who can tell you of collisions in broad daylight or when in full. Christmas tree mode) because the problem this is helping is drivers not paying attention to the road, and the real solution is not to just paint some things brighter (what happens to the risk for anything else? The old boy cycling to church, the kid who left her coat at school, Dogs, horses, the driver who broke down and is walking down the road to get a can of fuel. If hit is it their fault? Could that collision have been avoided by driving slower with more attention?).
The problem is the people with the most responsibility for road safety (drivers) have the least consequences for an accident, and therefore the risks are not perceived. I'm not saying that drivers are intentionally reckless or uncaring monsters (I'm not), but everytime someone sends a text while driving they have subconsciously weighed up their benefit from that text versus the cost in terms of the chance and consequences of having an accident or getting caught (all low, to them). They're "still paying attention" (but less so), they don't want to have an accident and the probability is still small, maybe instead of 1in a million, it's 1 in 100,000. But every day millions of drivers are making these decisions and similar ones about looking carefully at junctions and sticking to speed limits versus getting to work on time, and that 'accident' happens to someone. We can't expect people to do any different without some real efforts to change fundamental behaviour.
Painting things is just fluffing round the edges, and gives people a chance to say they are doing something to 'improve road safety' when it's really barely a bandaid for a broken leg.
Do you not understand the concept of analogies? Its a pretty clear one.
Your suggestion was a mite offensive in the first place, carrying the whiff of victim-blaming as it did.
Perfect for drawing rude shapes on peoples backs that only show up on the road.
I like the idea. However according to verge one spraying lasts about 10 days. Probably less if your commute has some off-road bits and you need to wash the bike after each ride. Would be interested if it was longer lasting . Do not understand the bashing. though I would not describe myself lit up as a Christmas tree, I make sure i am visible enough, to give myself a chance that the twats that text whilst driving might see me from a distance and avoid mowing me over from behind. When I drive I come across plenty of cyclists who do not give themselves that chance. Tempted to get a can to just give those a spray to help them survive.
It may not have been the same brand, but I used this stuff on my bike and kit for the transcontinental last year, it really did a great job at adding an additional layer of visibility all over
Even if all cyclists and pedestrians were to use this kind of product all that would result is that drivers would absorb any potential benefit by driving slightly faster, paying slightly less attention to the road and more to their phone/sat nav/cornflakes than they already do. Also anyone who hasn't complied will be at more risk and will be blamed for any kind of 'accident'. The problem will all of these so called 'safety' products is that they just shift responsibility away from the operators of the fast moving heavy driver cocoons onto the already most vulnerable road users. It's just bogus. (I am not a non-driver btw, I have my own cocoon)
What would help safety more is by having some black clad 'driver awareness ninjas' armed with speed guns and night vision goggles who apply consequences* to drivers failing in their responsibility of care by not paying attention, being on the phone etc. It could be a TV show.
*I'm not sure what consequences would be appropriate - stingers and paint balls may be a little draconian, but it would need to be enough that you don't want to be ninja'd and take care. Job done.
Half bricks might, just about, get the attention of some of the arseholes.
How about if you slow down and pay attention to the road ahead? Too difficult?
It just gives the bastards something to aim for.
The rub with reflective items is the assumption that drivers have their headlights on, and the lights are functioning properly. Where I live, drivers with headlights off during dark hours or malfunctioning lights are fairly common.
Yep, always loads of drivers around with broken headlights, or with just sidelights on, or with their headlights on FULL BEAM at all times or with their fog lights on in perfect visibility or their fog lights off in the fog... Morons.
FluffyKittenoff? What are you on about? You disagree with an opinion and you start throwing comments like that about? Seriously learn to express you opinions inoffensively.
I think whilst this is isn't perfect you've got to welcome it as an innovative, fun, safe, functional product. That will doubtless play its part in keeping us all safer. Good job Volvo you've take responsibility for your vehicles. Those pesky swedes always seem to be one step ahead of everyone lol
On the one hand, I personally quite like the aesthetics of reflective materials on bikes. I just like the way it looks.
But on the other hand, did someone not recently post a quote from the police report on the Michael Mason case, where the investigator discounted his lights, declaring that they would have been 'lost in all the other lights'?
So, while it might be a rational decision for an individual to go this route, if everyone adopts it, won't reflective material be 'lost in all the other reflective material' thus leaving cyclists and pedestrians collectively no safer than before?
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