Most people concede that motorcycles can be dangerous, especially when the right protective clothing is not worn. While crash helmets have no doubt saved thousands upon thousands of lives and provide more than adequate protection for the head and brain, other parts of the body have very little protection in the event of an accident.
For this reason, it would seem sensible that motorcycle enthusiasts pay close attention to new developments in safety technology, especially considering the strain upon the neck, chest and abdomen that is often caused by falling off a motorcycle in the event of an accident.
The development of the inflatable neck braces and ‘air-bag’ jackets has been met with an inordinate level of derision from motorcycle enthusiasts. This hasn’t stopped a number of respected companies in the motorcycle apparel business, such as: Spidi, Alpinstars and Dainese have continued to develop the concept.
After all, it took a while for helmets to be considered an essential part of the motorcyclist’s uniform, but that has now been passed into to law in the United Kingdom for many decades. Despite the fact that airbag vests and jackets are not widely used by motorcyclists on the roads, these safety items are definitely evolving, as it bestows the level of research that a number of companies have committed to the cause.
Lisa Buckley, Marketing Manager at Carole Nash, commented: “Technology is becoming an unstoppable force across the globe. Over the past few years there have been a handful of exceptional developments in the biking space, key safety features have been unveiled, ensuring bikers are enjoying safer riding experiences, something which we are always keen to back.”
The technology is in its infancy and as such, it is not referred to by one commonly used name, but is referred to – perhaps somewhat colloquially – as an ‘airbag’, and more formally as an ‘air-assisted safety device’, and in the case of Airetronics, as a ‘motorcycle inflatable safety vest’.
So how do these devices work?
Well, the airbag jacket basically provides a cushion of air around the torso of the rider in the event of a crash. Most of these airbag jackets consist of a vest that, as its name suggests, is integrated into a specially-designed motorcycle jacket. One or more canisters of carbon dioxide provides the inflation in fractions of a second via a trigger that is pulled when the rider leaves the motorcycle.
When the rider’s body is thrown from the bike, a wire that is attached to the jacket activates the triggers, piercing the CO2 canister(s), which more or less instantly inflates the vest/jacket.
As the technology is so new, there are no commonly accepted production standards, but as the technology itself develops, it is entirely possible that such items will become requisite among other commonly used motorcycle garments.