This Totally Lit Helmet Just Might Keep You From Getting Creamed On Your Motorcycle

Looks sweet too.

Motorcycle helmets are beneficial safety gear, but only in a “In case of emergency, break glass” sort of way, when things are already bad. California startup Brake Free wants to make your helmet useful in preventing the emergency in the first place, but mounting a highly visible automatic LED brake light on it, where car drivers are more likely to notice and respond.

“After nearly 42 years of working in the motorcycle industry, and 17 specializing in helmets, one thing continue to prove true,” observedPhil Ammendolia, vice president of sales and marketing at LS2 Helmets . A rider can never be too visible.

Brake Free works by magic, automatically illuminating when the rider brakes, with no wires or any other connection to the motorcycle. OK, it isn’t actually magic, but as the late Arthur C. Clarke observed, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” and Brake Free uses sufficiently advanced technology to automatically detect braking without being fooled by the rider turning their head or any other motions. 

And unlike the bike’s own brake light, Brake Free responds to other sources of deceleration, such as engine braking and downshifting. You recharge its built in battery using a USB cable, much like many bicycle lights.

Brake Free is available through an Indiegogo crowd funding program, for $99.