Airbag safety collar
No more helmet hair! Designed for the fashion conscious, the Hvvding collar airbag replaces the humble helmetIn Australia, it is law that all motorcyclists and cyclists must wear a helmet, but in some districts in some countries around the world, helmets are not mandatory.
It's in these areas that a new Swedish-designed product is pinning its hopes, a safety device designed to protect the head in the event of a collision.
Called Hvvding -- translated it means pack leader, or chieftan -- it's basically an inflatable collar that is not only at the height of fashion (see second image), but designed to protect your grey matter.
Reports suggest the safety device took two industrial design students around six years to research and develop. Its creators claim the airbag system deploys in just 0.1 seconds after being triggered by an impact or jolt, and covers the neck and skull of the rider.
Inflation is via a compact helium gas cylinder, and the device stays inflated for 'several' seconds after impact. Designed primarily for cyclists, it's made of a nylon blend that can weather road abrasions to avoid deflation.
Anna Haupt told the Daily Mail newspaper: "The airbag is designed as a hood that surrounds and protects the rider's head. The release mechanism is controlled by sensors that detects the abnormal motion of the cyclist in an accident.
"A lot of people don't like a bicycle helmet because of the way it looks and what it does to your hairstyle once you have taken it off. We wanted to make something to keep people safe and at the same time answer these questions for people, keeping them safe but looking good," added Haupt.
Though not likely to protect motorcyclists in the event of a high speed collision -- most testing was carried out at 20km/h -- it would provide more protection than no helmet. See the video below for crash-test dummies taking hits at speed.
Hvvding is scheduled to go into production in 2011 and will initially be available in Europe.
Pricing for the hair style-protecting device will be around £260, which was about $415 at the time of writing, and the protective device will be offered in various colours to match riders' get-ups.
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