This Light-Up Bike Helmet Helps Keep Cyclists Safe at Night

Night rides can be dangerous for cyclists, even if their bikes have lights and reflectors. To stay safe on dark roads, Mashable reports that two engineers have designed a smart helmet called Lumos, complete with a red brake light and yellow turn signals.

Lumos comes with a small, wireless remote, which riders clip onto their bike’s handlebar and use to control the lights. It also has an accelerometer, which switches on the brake lights when cyclists make a rapid stop. The helmet and remote are both battery-powered, so an accompanying iOS app keeps tabs on how much juice they have, and notifies you when to charge them. (An Android version of the app is reportedly on the horizon.)

The helmet’s designers, Jeff Chen and Ding Eu-wen, raised funds to make the helmet with a Kickstarter campaign. The project is now fully funded, but Lumos isn’t ready for the open road quite yet; beta testers are still providing feedback on its fit and design, and Chen and Eu-wen are tinkering with the accelerometer. They’re also contemplating adding a ride tracker to collect activity data.

You can keep tabs on the helmet's status by visiting their website, where a limited first-edition version is currently available for pre-order, starting at $170. In the meantime, learn how it works by watching the video below.

[h/t Mashable]