I’ve long used a flashing vest to make myself visible while cycling in the long nights of Northwest winter. Now, an MIT designer has invented a jacket with integrated flashing turn signals. Ingenious! (More here.)

Here are instructions for making your own.

As noted here, the traffic risks of walking may actually be higher per mile than the risks of cycling. Many cyclists now festoon themselves with lights—some of them, in fact, are distractingly bright. But pedestrians remain largely dark and hard to see from a moving vehicle. As LED technology continues to advance, I wonder if outerwear designers will begin integrating safety lighting. I even dream of the day when we might dim or remove street lights and other outdoor lighting and actually see the Milky Way from Cascadia cities. Self-lighting jackets could be a tiny step toward that future.