Airbag systems have become quite advanced inside cars. Not only do we see them embedded in the steering wheel and in front of the passenger seat, there's also a range of side-mounted airbags to cater for different types of impact. For two-wheel vehicles such as motorbikes ans scooters, airbag systems are much more difficult due to a lack of structures to attach them too.
According to Nikkei Technology, Honda believes it has come up with a good solution for protecting drivers of compact scooters and motobikes during a head-on collision. It's an airbag system developed through a collaboration with safety systems company Autoliv Inc.
Autoliv has been around for 60 years providing a range of different safety tech including three-point seat belts, front and side impact airbags, and even a pedestrian protection system. Working with Honda, the company developed an airbag that sits in front of the driver on the scooter and deploys when an acceleration sensor detects a head-on collision. The airbag extends upwards and protects the head as well as the upper body from a hard impact.
Airbags in cars work by using the steering wheel and dash as a support with which to counter the force of the person being propelled forwards. On a scooter there is no such support, but Honda and Autoliv realized such support is available from whatever the scooter hits. So by extending a large airbag upwards in just 0.04 seconds, the driver will be protected through a combination of the bag and the support of the vehicle/hard object they collide with.
That does mean the airbag won't work in all cases, for example, if the scooter hits something small meaning there is no support structure available. However, it should significantly lower the risk of serious injury when a scooter or motorbike hits a car, truck, or even runs into a wall.
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Development of the new airbag continues, but testing already confirms the airbag protects a driver's head when a scooter travelling at 50km/h hits a parked car. So expect future Honda motorbikes and scooter to at least start offering the airbag as an optional extra. It could/should end up being a standard feature, though.
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