As traffic jams worsen and people become more aware of the detrimental impact our industrial age inventions are having on the world’s environment, bikes are becoming an increasingly popular mode of city transport.

But thinking about the safety of the environment doesn’t always spill over into thinking about our own safety. In Brussels, one in four cyclists rides without a bike light, and this puts themselves and others at risk of serious accidents.

Independent agency, mortierbrigade, and client, Bike for Brussels, have come up with an innovative way to tackle the problem.

The Bike Light Lane – a first-hand experience of what can happen to cyclists without lights.

This is how it worked:

When cyclists without lights entered the tunnel that had been placed on one of the busiest bike lanes of Brussels, they were detected by sensors, which triggered an interactive animation on a LED screen. An avatar with bike lights appeared next to them, which lit up a typical Brussels night scene and set a series of road events in motion, depending on the speed of the cyclists. The avatar was then passed by a second character – without bike lights this time. At the end of the tunnel this character ended up in a traffic accident, right in front of the eyes of the cyclists.

And the experience invited all cyclists to pick up a free set of bike lights using the slogan: Be bright, use a light.

Philippe De Ceuster, partner and creative director at mortierbrigade, commented, “Years of traditional campaigns were unable to change people’s behaviour when it came to using bike lights. Research showed that cyclists believed they were sufficiently visible in the surrounding city lights, even though they were not. So we decided to show them they were invisible, because sometimes you have to see it to believe it.”

The Bike Light Lane was installed on the first day of winter, traditionally one of the most dangerous moments for cyclists, as their daily routes were suddenly plunged into darkness an hour earlier. National TV, radio and newspapers covered the Bike Light Lane and, as a result, three more Belgian cities contacted mortierbrigade with a request to bring the interactive experience to their streets.