How high-tech airbag jeans and vests can make motorcycles safer

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But innovations in airbags could help keep motorcyclists safe.

Moses Shahrivar designed his first pair of motorcycle jeans in collaboration with Harley-Davidson Sweden 16 years ago – with a protective leather lining. Now he takes the idea a step further. His company Airbag Inside Sweden AB has designed a prototype of ultra-resistant jeans with airbags hidden inside the legs.

The wearer attaches the jeans to their bike and if they fall off the bike, the airbags are triggered, filling with compressed air and reducing the impact on the lower body. The airbag can then be deflated, gas-filled and reassembled in the jeans for reuse, Shahrivar explains.

Airbag Inside Sweden AB is in the process of having the jeans certified to European health and safety standards and subjecting them to a series of crash tests.

The company has raised € 150,000 ($ 180,000) from the European Union to develop the idea and hopes to bring the jeans to market in 2022. French company CX Air Dynamics has launched a crowdfunding campaign to develop a similar idea. .

Airbag vests

Shahrivar says this is the first time this type of protection will be available for the lower body.

Equivalent upper body technology has been around for over 20 years. Motorcycle airbag vests can be placed under a jacket and protect the chest, neck and sometimes the back.

Earlier versions were attached to the bike, like Shahrivar’s jeans, but more recently autonomous electronic airbags have been developed, which instead use high-tech sensors to detect when the rider is about to fall.

Among the autonomous airbags on the market, there is a system created by the French company In & motion.

The company started designing portable airbags for professional skiers in 2011 and has since adapted the technology for motorcyclists. Rather than using a tether to trigger airbags, he created a “brain” made up of a GPS, a gyroscope and an accelerometer. A little bigger than a smartphone, this box is placed on the back of any compatible vest.

“The sensors measure movements in real time and the algorithm is able to detect a fall or an accident to inflate the airbag just before a crash”, explains Anne-Laure Hoegeli, In & motion communication manager, at CNN Business .

The box measures the position of the jumper 1000 times per second. As soon as an “irremediable imbalance” is detected, the airbag is triggered and fully inflates to protect the user’s chest, abdomen, neck and spine, Hoegeli explains. It only takes 60 milliseconds.

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In & motion recently raised 10 million euros ($ 12 million) to expand in Europe and the United States.

While basic operation is similar to other electronic airbags on the market, In & motion offers an affordable subscription service, says Emma Franklin, associate editor of Motorcycle News. “Their system has made airbags more accessible in many ways for ordinary people,” Franklin told CNN Business.

Runners can either buy the box for $ 400 or rent it from In & motion for around $ 120 per year. Users in France also have access to a setting that calls emergency services in the event of a crash.

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While airbag protection is now mandatory in MotoGP and at this year’s Dakar Rally, airbags are not a legal requirement for road motorcyclists – but Franklin believes they are an important safety innovation.
Richard Frampton, senior lecturer in vehicle safety at Loughborough University in the UK, says there hasn’t been much academic research on the effectiveness of motorcycle inflatable vests because they are still quite enough recent for drivers on the road. But he pointed to research from the French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks, which found that airbag vests offered good protection at impact speeds of less than around 30 to 40 kilometers per hour (18 to 25 miles per hour).

“From the few articles, case studies, and articles that I’ve seen, they seem to be a very useful tool,” says Frampton.

“I am in favor of them – the chest, neck and spine are all areas where you can have life-threatening injuries.”

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