My lightbulb moment: Inventor Emily Brooke on how she designed laserlights for cyclists to let lorries know they're in their blindspot

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Emily Brooke MBE, 31, is the founder of the Blaze Laserlight for cyclists. Her design projects a 2D image of a bike six metres ahead, so vans and lorries know there is a bicycle in their blind spot.

‘I used to think cycling was a waste of time. I’d see a cyclist sweating up a hill and think ‘What on earth are you doing’?

But I went to Brighton to study product design and the summer before it began, I did a bike ride the length of the UK in aid of a charity that meant a lot to me.

I loved being out all day in the countryside, but I found cycling in cities stressful, and quite scary. 

Inventor Emily Brooke explains how she came up with Blaze Laserlight for cyclists. Her design projects a 2D image of a bike six metres ahead, so vans and lorries know there is a bicycle in their blind spot 

I was cycling towards the seafront in Brighton and thinking about how to solve the problem, when I saw a white van in front of me. I realised that if he turned left, I’d be in trouble and I wished I had a ‘virtual me’ ahead in the traffic, to let him know I was there. That was my light bulb moment.

As a result, for my design project I chose the theme of city cycling. Surprisingly, 79 per cent of bikes that are hit are going straight ahead: a vehicle turns into them because they don’t see them.

It meant several weeks of toil in the metal workshop, and I found a laser expert in Sussex to advise me on the optics and how to create the cycle shape.

Blaze was launched with a crowd-funding campaign. Almost overnight we were shipping to 54 countries.

Transport for London did a study on how effective it is, and as a result, Laserlights are being integrated into all 12,000 London Santander Cycles. 

I wanted to build a better world by getting more people in cities on bikes and keeping them safe — I didn’t expect an MBE. It was a massive shock and a huge honour. I am still working on ideas to keep cyclists safer.