Just a couple of hours ago we talked about an experiment to improve our eyes with night vision. Now let's flip the situation: What Volvo proposes is still a chemical solution, but instead of going on the eyes, we put it on our clothing. Life Paint is an aerosol designed with cyclists in mind, as it makes them much more visible in low-light conditions when illuminated by a car's headlights.
Why Cyclists Need Extra Visibility
The promotional video starts with a worrying fact: In the United Kingdom alone, 19,000 cyclists suffer accidents every year. We have often mentioned and recognized the difficulties that arise between cyclists and drivers. Large cities do not respond quickly enough to the increase in transportation diversity, forcing both groups to share roads under questionable conditions. Protests are a daily occurrence, but when there is an impact, the cyclist almost always loses. The problem becomes much bigger at night. Not all cyclists take the right steps to "make themselves noticed," and even with a car's headlights at full beam, there is a chance the driver will not see them.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/CfWzeGlaFvILife Paint: How It Works
Volvo's goal is to eliminate that possibility through the Life Paint project. It is an aerosol designed together with the people at Albedo100, which already sells similar products. All the cyclist has to do (or why not, the athlete who goes out to run when the sun goes down) is cover their clothing and equipment with the aerosol, which is completely invisible during the day, but lights up with a bright white when it receives the light from headlights. The effect lasts about a week, does not change the properties of the surface it receives (Volvo did not indicate any material restrictions), and can be washed without major problems.
Pilot Program and Expansion Plans
The Life Paint pilot test, which distributes free aerosols to cyclists, began a couple of days ago in London and Kent. If the results are positive, the company's plan is to expand the reach of Life Paint not only to the rest of the United Kingdom, but also internationally.
As always happens in these cases, Life Paint is not a magical solution. The video highlights the number of accidents at the start, but it ends with another phrase: The best way to survive an accident is not to have it.
