Shock news: a car company has come out in favour of cyclists. Sort of.
This week, Volvo is handing out loads of spray-on reflective paint to cyclists in London and Kent, as part of a campaign to improve their safety, cut down on the UK’s 19,000 annual cycling accidents and, y’know, show what a sensitive and caring multinational corporation it is.
The melodramatically named “Life Paint” can be sprayed onto clothes, helmets, or bikes themselves, and only shows up under bright headlights. It fades after about a week, and apparently doesn’t damage the surface it’s applied to.
Here’s a gif showing the paint in low light, then headlights:
The spray was developed by the car company and the Swedish reflective spray start-up (no, really) Albedo100.
There’s more information on the campaign in the video below, along with interviews with cyclists and some extremely inspiring music:
The company is handing out the paint for free (so check out the list of hand-out points here if you live in either of those places and like free stuff), and seem to have launched the campaign purely to make their brand look, well, nicer. London’s cyclists, after all, aren’t exactly the people most likely to go out and buy a car.
On the campaign’s website, Volvo charitably asserts that
Safety shouldn’t be only for the few. It should be for everyone. The ones not driving our cars, and the ones that prefer two wheels to four.
Bless.
