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Life Paint: the glow-in-the-dark spray that saves cyclists’ lives
Life Paint makes cyclists’ clothes and bikes reflective for night-time rides. Volvo’s objective is to achieve a zero death rate.
The fear of being involved in an accident when riding bicycles is linked to low visibility at night. The problem often arises from drivers’ lack of attention or their unsafe driving style.
Products that enhance visibility can help night-time cyclists defend themselves against cars, when riding home on city streets after dark. Reflective and fluorescent materials are widespread among cyclists, but this is a new product… to be sprayed on.
Swedish car manufacturer Volvo decided to contribute to road safety with Life Paint: a water-based spray-on reflective paint that can be applied to any material used whilst cycling. It is invisible during daylight, but in the glare of a vehicle’s headlights, fabrics and surfaces coated with the spray are transformed into high-visibility objects.
Life Paint washes off and it lasts for about a week after application. It can be used in all sorts of ways: applied to clothes, shoes, helmets, backpacks and even dog leads and collars, according to Volvo.
Cyclists represent 8% of road accidents victims in Europe, according to the Road safety report of 2015 of the European Commission, whilst every year in the UK 19,000 cyclists are involved in accidents. For now, Life Paint is available in a handful of London-area bike shops, and if it does well, Volvo may move the product internationally.
Through this campaign Volvo also launches an awareness-raising message, declaring that by 2020 no person will be killed or seriously injured by Volvo cars.
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