We weren’t expecting much on the day after Thanksgiving, but we found this morning a truly awesome idea: bicycle gloves with high-output LEDs that function as directional signals. Check this video:
[youtube www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJLzunjOpBU]
Zach Vorheis was a programmer for Google Earth who found his way into the fashion tech world and came up with this terrifically practical idea that increases bicyclist visibility and safety. There are LEDs on the back of the glove. To signal a turn, the rider closes a circuit by bringing his thumb to the outside of his index finger. To signal cars behind you, you hold up your hand as though you were using bike hand signals; to alert oncoming traffic, you put your hand on the top of your drop-down handlebar, with the back of your hand facing forward.
There’ll be a Kickstarter campaign starting December 9, and you can sign up at the company’s site to be updated. We’ll keep you posted, too.
Cute idea, but two serious problems that decrease safety:
1) often you want to alert both oncoming traffic and behind traffic
2) the holding up your hand to have the lights signal a left turn is actually a right turn signal without the lights, which is a) very confusing b) contrary to vehicular code (which could impact the success of a lawsuit against the person who ran me over)
A reasonable point. However, I might argue that the knowledge of “approved” hand signals is far from ubiquitous — and flashing arrows are probably a better indication of intent than obscure gestures.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Centerring is right. Holding up the left hand is a right-turn signal, and not a very good one. I call it the “dyslexic Boy-Scout salute.” The extended right arm makes a much better signal, and rotating the wrist makes it flash front and rear. I’ve been doing this with relfective tape on my gloves for many years. LEDs would make it more effective to the front, where it is useful also to alert pedestrians, and where a motorist’s headlights are usually not aimed at the glove. The arrow is pointless — or could (literally) be without creating a problem –) because it is too small to be resolved at normal distances where a person would need to see it; also, to the glove might be used make a slow signal with the arm extended downward. How about LEDs that glow yellow with the arm extended sideways and red if downward? How about a companion product for road workers and police directing traffic?
Using the left arm for signaling makes you legal in every state, should be recognized by every road user, is more visible to oncoming traffic and following traffic, and allows the right hand to remain in a position to operate the rear brake. The only exception is changing lanes when you may be blocked from the view of traffic in the right lane by a vehicle following close in your lane. – Complying with the law would not prevent the use of additional methods to communicate your intention to traffic in the right lane.
Oops, it was Gary Yngve I was responding to.
GARY YNGVE has a valid point.
Signaling a right turn (left forearm up) and turning left is illegal and could be disastrous. Also, the right hand right turn signal is not legal in every state. To my knowledge there is no legal substitute for signaling with the hands/arm for bicyclists in any state.
LED lights front and rear on gloves would be legal, and aid in visibility. Promoting the use of LED arrows and illegal hand signals makes you responsible for those that follow your instruction.