Lumos cycle helmet boasts automatic brake lights

The Lumos is the world's first cycle helmet with brake lights that come on automatically when you slow down.

Lumos is described as a 'next generation' cycle helmet. Like any other design on the market, it's protective qualities rely on a layer of polystyrene covered in a thin plastic casing, but Lumos features built-in automatic brake lights and indicators.

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An integrated accelerometer senses any reduction in speed and automatically applies the triangular brake light. The indicators are activated by a handlebar-mounted wireless remote.

Lumos is currently available to buy at a reduced cost of $99 via Kickstarter

Cycle helmets. To wear or not to wear. That is the question.

Or at least it is in some countries. The Netherlands is arguably the safest country in the world for cycling, and yet helmet wearing among Dutch cyclists is rare. It is estimated that only around 0.5 per cent of cyclists in the Netherlands wear cycle helmets.

In Australia it is compulsory to wear a helmet if you are cycling. Before it introduced the law in 1990 around 45 cyclists were killed each year in Australia. Following the move to make helmet wearing mandatory, that figure fell to 30 people a year - a reduction in line with the collapse in cycling caused by the introduction of compulsory helmet law.

In Australia around 300 people a year drown. Under a new Australian law all swimmers will have to wear a life jacket. Bondi beach will never be the same again.

Here in Britain, whether one wears a helmet or not is a matter of choice, which seems a sensible approach - not least because the protection offered by cycle helmets id far from proven. For a detailed and independent analysis of helmet effectiveness visit Cyclehelmets.org

The ethical choice

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.

The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK’s most ethical provider.

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