A cyclist who felt at risk in London traffic has designed indicators for bikes to make them more visible to motorists.
Luca Amaduzzi, 30, a business school graduate from City University, says he has more than 1,000 orders for the WingLights ahead of their release next month.
He was invited by Prince Andrew to showcase the indicators at a St James’s Palace forum for technology entrepreneurs last month, and hopes to attract the attention of Sir Richard Branson at Virgin Media Business “pitch to rich” competition, which offers £1 million in prizes.
He founded the Hammersmith-based firm CYCL last year with King’s College graduate Agostino Stilli, 29, to create innovative cycling accessories.
The orange WingLights, which cost £24.99, are fitted to each end of a bike’s handlebars. They are activated by tapping the lights, and flash at the same frequency as a car’s indicators. Mr Amaduzzi said they were not meant as an alternative to a hand signal but would “support and reinforce” a cyclist’s change of direction. There were 19,438 reports of cyclists being injured in the UK in 2013, including 109 deaths — of which 14 happened in London.
Mr Amaduzzi, from Florence, Italy, believes bike indicators are the “next step in the evolution of cycle safety”.
He told the Standard: “When you are riding a bike on a large street in London, putting your arm out to say where you are going, while you’re trying to avoid the cars and make sure they don’t run you over, is quite a challenge.
“When you drive in traffic, no one wants to have an accident. It’s not like the driver likes to have an accident... If they have an accident, they will say they didn’t see the cyclist. We’re trying to make the cyclist more visible.”
