Mass. bike cops get new technology

New gloves have a blinking red light on the palm and a green signal on the back

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — A Plymouth company soon could have police eating out of its hand with its new, flashing stop-and-go traffic safety gloves.

Officers began testing Brite-Strike Technologies' personal-protection device at Fourth of July crowds this weekend. The gloves feature wafer-thin, flexible LED light strips that blink a red stop sign on the palm and green go signals on the back, at the push of a button.

The company claims the strobe lights are visible to motorists up to a quarter-mile away.

Brite-Strike founder Glenn Bushee of Duxbury, a Kingston police officer, said the strips aren't rechargeable, but are easily pulled out and replaced after about 40 hours of use. One pair of gloves and eight strips retail between $30 and $50, he said.

"It feels like a regular glove,'' Bushee said. "You can still handle a gun, write notes. The problem today is the drivers are less attentive than ever. They're talking on cell phones, texting, listening to music. It just made sense to us."