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Swedish company unveils airbag cycle helmet (+ video)

Device aims to overcome barriers to helmet use among image-conscious adults

A Swedish company has developed an airbag bicycle helmet designed to deploy quickly to protect a bike rider’s head in the case of an accident, while seeking to overcome resistance to helmet use by providing what is billed as a stylish accessory aimed at the fashion-conscious.

Called the Hövding – the name means 'chieftain' in Swedish – the airbag is housed in a collar worn around the cyclist’s neck that comes in a variety of colours and can separated from the airbag and washed.

The video below shows the helmet deploying in a variety of situations, but with the top speed of the collisions shown being just 20kph – that’s in the first one, in which the cyclist is hit from behind by a car – you do wonder whether it can react quickly enough at higher speeds.

According to the eponymous company that has developed the device, 40 cyclists are killed in Sweden each year with a further 30,000 injured, and one in three of those fatalities involves head injuries.

While helmets are compulsory for children aged under 15, there’s a heated debate taking place at the moment about whether that legislation should be extended to all cyclists.

Although it doesn’t cite statistics regarding helmet use, the company says that among commuters and everyday cyclists, barriers include the fact that most helmets on the market have too sporty a look.

It adds that that “many choose not to wear a helmet because it is considered uncool and doesn’t fit with their personal style.”

The airbag helmet has its origins in a joint thesis by industrial design students Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin at Lund University in 2005, the same year helmet compulsion was introduced for the under-15s.

The concept reeived an Innovationsbrons (‘innovation bridge’) prize, which enabled the pair to start working on turning the idea into an actual product, and in 2006 they won the Venture Cup together with a grant of SEK200,000 which enabled them to set up the company.

The following year, work began on developing a system that could “identify cyclists’ specific movement patterns in an accident and determine when the sensors will trigger the air bag,” with hundreds of accidents staged with the help of professional stunt performers and crash test dummies.

They also worked with Ulf Björnstig professor and surgeon at Umeå University Hospital and a specialist in cyclists’ head injuries to understand the the specific nature of cycling accidents.

They also undertook testing on the road to identify everyday situations where the airbag should not deploy such as picking up keys or running downstairs, as well as normal bike riding.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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12 comments

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handlebarcam | 13 years ago
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Mark this day well. Give it 10-15 years and people on cycling news forums will be posting self-righteous comments about the irresponsibility of any fellow cyclist photographed riding without a bulky collar. And the DfT will be making Flash games berating children who even consider going outside, or walking down stairs, without first connecting a compressed air cannister to their safety jacket.

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todeloo | 13 years ago
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I think it's a brilliant idea! I find helmets sight impairing and in the summer too hot, in the winter too cold...

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OldRidgeback | 13 years ago
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And this is intended as an aesthetically pleasing alternative to existing helmets to encourage people to wear head protection?

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Mr Sock | 13 years ago
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Looks like it'd tuck in nicely to the collar on that dhb Windslam softshell  39

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BigDummy | 13 years ago
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It is hard to imagine a "personal style" that cannot tolerate a helmet but would accomodate that thing. But I am an old man who knows little of style.

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andylul | 13 years ago
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Put a Rapha badge on it, double the price and they'll go like hot cakes

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DaveP | 13 years ago
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OLN, That picture looks like she's having her head grabbed by the the Mr Stay-Puffed Marshmallow man...  2

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OneLooseNut | 13 years ago
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However, the woman modelling the headgear at the top has given me a whole new range of uses.  16

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OneLooseNut | 13 years ago
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I know car airbags are triggered by small explosives. If this uses the same type of system, I'm not sure that I want to be wearing it around my neck. The film "Scanners" comes to mind.

Whilst it deployed on the front fall, it didn't seem to do much for the dummy.

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DaveP | 13 years ago
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Anyone seen / used the Sidi system for motorbikes?

I've seen one of these inflatable back protectors in action for a Horse riders... very effective:

http://www.point-two.co.uk/equine/index.php

Watch the video!

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simonmb | 13 years ago
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Be alright with a nice bit of fur trim added though...

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pedalingparamedic | 13 years ago
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I think I'll be sticking with a helmet - not exactly low profile that collar is it?!!

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