The RoadWareZ Road Tracker light-up backpack could save your life

Safety first is what my mom told me every time I took my bicycle on a ride as a kid. I eventually discovered what she meant when I fell off the back of my brother’s bike. It was painful, and ever since then, I prefer not to learn the hard way.  

I am lucky though as some stories are much worse than mine. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 857 bicyclists died in car accidents in 2018. It is extremely difficult to survive on a bike when a 3,000-pound car hits you. There is nothing more tragic than a stunned, unaware driver saying “Oh my God, I didn’t see her at all!”. 

Thankfully, RoadwareZ came up with the first patented smart backpack, the Road Tracker, for cyclists. It’s so smart that it changes other people’s awareness around you.

Integrated LED lights in the backpack help the drivers behind you finally understand you. Now, if you want to take a turn or stop at a traffic light, you are always visible to others. Finally, no angry drivers trying to guess your next move, and you aren’t mad because drivers won’t cut you off on the road. 

Does this backpack actually help drivers see cyclists? Yes, the LED lights are so bright that it is definitely noticeable on the road. The lights are not on a screen like a TV; rather, the backpack has 64 separate lights that secure a clear image for people around you. Every light has a job, and there are enough to display all sorts of figures.

The interior of the RoadwareZ backpack.
Credit: RoadwareZ

How does the backpack know what you plan to do? Bluetooth and GPS. It’s completely hands-free because your phone will do all the work. You just add a route on your app, and the backpack signals your moves. But if you don’t want to follow the route that you had set on your GPS, they thought about that, too. You can simply engage your Road Tracker Backpack’s LED lights on your phone with a few clicks. You have an option to stop, turn to the right, or turn to the left at any moment.

This light show comes from a built-in battery. It holds enough charge for 8 hours of safe riding and it takes you only around 30 minutes to have a full charge. Or you can plug the battery into a power bank and keep your electronics safe. It is safe because the bottom of this backpack has a coat of rubber and its entire body is waterproof. So it comes with everlasting material, but that functionality comes at the expense of looks. It is not stylish. And it feels like it’s a lower quality backpack.

However, a lower quality backpack doesn’t have an app that lets you add friends to see how far they are from your route. And, more importantly, it lets parents see where their child is biking. There is a “hit” feature that automatically notifies if a cyclist gets hit, so it’s a relief to people who worry about their cyclist.

Is $249 for a backpack a valid price? It really depends on how often you bike. If you are the kind of person who bikes to work and back every day, it could save you money in the long run. You are less likely to need to go to the ER. But if you are just a kid biking around to see your friends, this price point is probably not worth it.  #SeriousBikersOnly

Editor’s note: Since publishing our review, the price for this backpack has come down significantly. It now costs $99, which means it is a much better value. When we said it depends on how often you bike, we would suggest that it could work for just about any cyclist now.