Tongue-in-cheek app helps cyclists stay visible on the roads

April marks the start of the busy season for cyclists. The next six months see an annual 60% uplift in people travelling by bike.

One thing that not all cyclists may be aware of is that we are required by law to have our bike lights switched on between sunset and sunrise. Anyone cycling in London before 6:41am or after 7:30pm should be aware of this now the clocks have changed.

Doineedmybikelight.com is an app made by cyclists for cyclists in collaboration between tech start-up Blaze and Internet Marketing Company Ayima. Using your location, it offers an instant 'yes' or 'no' answer so you can have a safer journey, wherever you are in the world.

50% of urban bicycle commuting is during the evening or night, which is the time of day when judgement may not be at its peak. For a definitive answer, head to Doineedmybikelight.com before you saddle up.

Future journey times can also be entered into the site, helping riders plan properly for the route ahead.

In London, for example, a typical ride home from Zone 1 to Zone 3 might take in excess of an hour. Light levels can shift hugely in this space of time, and so the app will help ensure a safe ride home. Closer to the equator, light levels change more rapidly at sunrise and sunset. A 30-minute ride home from work in Cairns, Australia that begins in bright sunlight could see a rider plunged suddenly into darkness. #doineedmybiklight helps cyclists be prepared.

Built primarily as a tongue-in-cheek take on cycling laws and common sense , the tool makes the ride to work a little more light-hearted. Can’t be bothered to look outside the window? Wondering what time it gets dark today? Want to know from which date you’ll no longer need your bike light on your morning or evening commute? Just visit doineedmybikelight.com to find all the answers!

The people behind #doineedmybikelight
Blaze is a London-based startup dedicated to inspiring more people to enjoy life on a bike by creating products that improve cycle safety in cities.

Their revolutionary Laserlight bike light combines a white LED with a green laser to project the symbol of a bike onto the road six metres ahead, increasing the cyclist’s footprint and alerting motorists to their presence. It directly addresses the most common accident scenario - vehicles side sweeping an unseen bike.

Blaze teamed up with global Internet marketing company Ayima and a panel of keen cyclists to come up with simple solutions to help keep people cycle safe on the roads year round.

Ayima developed #doineedmybikelight to dispel misinformation about when you need your bike light switched on, using local laws and live sunrise and sunset data.

Ayima's CEO and Cofounder, Mike Jacobson said, "As a lifelong cyclist, I'm proud to be involved with an innovative start-up like Blaze. I hope the awesome Laserlight is just the beginning of the contribution they can make to cycle safety."

Blaze founder and Laserlight inventor Emily Brooke commented, "It has been great fun working with Ayima! The partnership kicked off with an engaged brainstorming session between both teams and they have since turned our creative vision of DoINeedMyBikeLight into a beautiful, sharable piece of content that we are extremely proud of."

Blaze has been shipping lights to riders in nearly 50 different countries around the world since 2013, following a successful Kickstarter campaign. Blaze has raised investment from the Branson Family and leading European VC Index Ventures.

For enquiries please contact:

Blaze - Diana Danova, diana@blaze.cc - 07858 012595
Ayima - Janaya Wilkins, janaya@ayima.com - 07595 003739