Compromise in the great helmet debate

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Cycling helmets seem to be a recurring theme here on JustAnotherCyclist as of late.  To wear or not to wear.  To promote or not to promote. Blah blah blah…  There has got to be some way to resolve the issue.  Perhaps with better technology?

Folks seem pretty happy with the air bags in their cars.  This probably has a lot to do with the reams and reams of evidence for their collective benefits.  Unfortunately the same concept does not apply to bicycles.  First off there is simply no practical way to mount an airbag on the handlebars of any but the most heavily customized bikes.  More importantly is the fact that it is usually the ground or a car – and not the handlebars – that you smack into if you are injured in a cycling crash.  If only there were some way to get that same level of passive protection on a bicycle…

Maybe there is.


Swedish company Hövding has apparently achieved this for us in the form of a helmet-shaped, wearable airbag.

Hövding is a collar for bicyclists, worn around the neck. The collar contains a folded up airbag that you’ll only see if you happen to have an accident. The airbag is shaped like a hood, surrounding and protecting the bicyclist’s head. The trigger mechanism is controlled by sensors which pick up the abnormal movements of a bicyclist in an accident.

There you have it folks.  The people that brought us Ikea – saving thousands of dorm rooms from the injustice of cinder-block book shelves – have now apparently saved us from the drone of the bicycle helmet debate.

(Special thanks to VeloReviews.com member skrapn for bringing this to my attention)