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Engine braking & safety - BikeALERT system

guyhoovler

guyhoovler

Moped
I try to be aware of my surroundings and think about vehicles behind me, using my brakes to signal in many circumstances when I'm using engine braking to slow down.

I was doing some research and found this automatic brake light - driven off of deceleration G-forces - and wondered if anyone else on here had seen it or had an opinion about it.

http://www.bikealertsystem.com

I like the concept as an additional way to signal others that I'm slowing, but worry that it might trigger too frequently, or that I might be less safe if I count on this to signal deceleration vs. always staying alert to doing it manually.

Curious what you guys think.

Guy
 
Thanks for the link... definitely the same idea.

Does anyone have either of these?  Seems worth the $100-150... only question on the Vololights would be durability with the in-frame design.
 
There is ample evidence showing that a flashing brake light gets attention faster than steady or solid brake light. I do share your concern with the sensitivity of the module and whether or not it would be going off with every deceleration.  This is why we teach the brake light flashing technique to all students when they are coming to a stop.  I do this with every stop as it now a trained and ingrained response.

There are several brake light modulators and of course headlamp modulators that have been available for some time and are very effective and easy to install, yes they require using the brakes to activate the flashing, but it is an automatic flash pattern which does not require the riders manipulation of the brake lever(s).

Though this is an interesting approach.
 
Flashing brake lights are eye catching in a lot of circumstances. Where it is a PITA is in stop and go traffic. I followed some small Chevy SUV or something or other and it had a brake light that flashed three times, then went steady every time the brakes were applied. After the 10,000th time it got pretty old. I eventually changed lanes to get rid of the annoyance. Before that I was thinking two well placed .410 shots would take care of the pesky lights (only kidding folks).

Dan
 
Note that Vololights also has a module you can use to power your existing brake lights, but it's not for sale yet. They keep pushing it back, but it now looks like it will be available this summer. Personally that's what I'm interested in.
 
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