Kickstarter of the Week: Revolights

70 percent of bike crashes at nighttime are caused by lack of visibility.

R

iding a bike at night, especially if you live in a metropolitan area, can be a little nerveracking; it can also be downright terrifying depending on how late it's getting (read: how many drivers on the road are driving drunk) and how busy the streets you ride on are. Regular bike lights are typically required by law to be on your bike, but small front and rear lights still don't call that much attention to cyclists. Enter Revolights, this week's featured Kickstarter.

Revolights are thin LED rings that are clipped onto each rim just below the brake calipers using a series of rim-specific clips. Power to the LED lights is supplied via a wire to the hub, where a lightweight USB rechargeable polymer lithium-ion battery is held in a special bracket.

The lights are clipped onto bicycles' rims.

The lights are meant to offer higher side visibility to bikers, as 70 percent of nighttime bike-car collisions are caused by low side visibility. Further statistics also show that 69 percent of cyclist deaths in 2008 occurred between the hours of 5 p.m. and midnight. In other words: cycling at night time? Not very safe. The lights aim to combat that.

But aside from adding visibility, the lights also light up the cyclist's route in front, by illuminating the path.

The developers had a goal of $43,500, and have already earned $215,621—their project has been funded and with any luck, we'll start seeing a refined version of this product on shelves soon.

Check out the video for the Kickstarter: