A bike light that looks farther ahead the faster you ride

As part of its new Varia line of smart cycling devices, Swiss company Garmin introduced a couple of lightning options that promise to make it safer for cyclists riding at night. Not only visibility, the lighting innovations will also help bicycle riders keep their eyes glued on the road.

When connected to one of Garmin's bike-centric Edge GPS devices, the Varia headlight use the cyclist's speed to automatically adjust the projection of light. When a cyclist is riding slow, it casts a wider projection to illuminate more of what's around him. When the cyclist is riding fast, the headlight focuses farther ahead to make approaching obstacles more visible.

There's also a smart tail light offered by Varia that uses the bike's speed data to automatically adjust the intensity of its flashing LEDs. As a cyclist slows down, it gets brighter and more intense so as to attract the attention of trailing traffic. A pair of them can actually work as turn signals with an optional handlebarmounted remote. When connected to a GPS device, both the head light and the tail light will automatically adjust their intensity based on the ambient lighting conditions to prolong the battery life.

The Garmin Varia head light, tail light and remote control are priced at $300 (Rs 19,000 approx) for the bundle. But separat ely the head light is a cool $200 (Rs 12,600 approx) while the tail light is $70 (Rs 4,400 approx) on top of that. Expensive, but if it means you avoid major road accident, the investment just might be worth it.