The cycling jacket with built-in brake lights and indicators

Its inventor Michael Chen has landed a design award for the high-tech coat and hopes to find a manufacturer to produce it on a mass scale.

Amber indicators are triggered to flash by a "tilt-switch" when the wearer raises their arm to give a hand signal.

And a device called an "accelerometer" is used to turn an LED, woven into the jacket's back, green when the rider is moving forward or red when they apply the brakes.



London-based Mr Chen, 28, got the idea watching cyclists in the capital. He said: "There is a lot of hostility from bus and cab drivers towards cyclists.

The invention, called the Reactiv Cycling Jacket, has already impressed British judges of the prestigious James Dyson design awards, who chose Mr Chen for a first prize of £2,000. His jacket will now go through to the global stage of the competition.

Mr Chen hopes the jacket be on sale by Christmas, for about £100.