As an avid cyclist, I encounter people of all walks of life sharing the roads with me on their bikes.   Many, like me, are recreational riders who ride leisurely or maybe for personal fitness.  But for a majority of Lowell cyclists, the bike is their only means of transportation.  And, doubtless, we’ve seen cyclists riding at night without any safety equipment or lights.  This doesn’t just perturb motorists and pedestrians who can’t see them but is obviously a grave safety risk to all involved, but perhaps mostly to the cyclist themself.  A recent Mass-wide study showed that Lowell had among the highest bike-related accident rates in the state.  

If you’ve ever wondered how you can make a real, tangible difference in your community, then this is no exaggeration  when I say you can really save the life of someone in your community.  The inability to afford a simple bike light should not be a death sentence in our community.

My goal is to raise a minimum of $500 to secure approximately 500 units of front and rear bike light sets through Alibaba and distribute them to the Lowell Bike Coalition and various other community organizations so they can be given to the people who need them.  Please consider that for the cost of one movie ticket, you can essentially provide an entire family with bike lights and make their commuting lives far safer.  Thank you.

Go Fund Me- Lights for Lowell

For a good chunk of the city cycling community that uses their bikes exclusively for vandalism and stealing GPS units out of people’s unlocked cars, this probably doesn’t apply to you…you’re better off just waiting until this pilot is funded and you can just steal them like everything else.    But for the growing gang of commuting exclusive pedal pushers out there that are carving up the city streets (and sidewalks), let’s make sure we get some lights on those trikes.  You know…for safety yada, yada…and more importantly, for blasting a high beam through the back windshields of our elected officials that don’t ever see people riding their bikes on city streets, or the elected officials that just like to troll and waste folks time with “test motions” that call for the removal of bike infrastructure, or simply to ensure the safety of the jay-walking pedestrians crossing Market Street to get to the Athenian Corner.