I’ve ranted and raved about helmets and the odd fact that no helmet manufacture seems to advertise their testing strategies. I always found it odd that auto manufactures will show somewhat gruesome footage of crash test studies to show how safe their cars are, while helmet advertising never seems to even mention the word “safety.” Instead, we get sold $100 upgrades for improved cooling, better looks and lighter weight.

Well, now those crazy Swedes have proven me wrong.Forget IKEA, we’re talking Hövding.

It was actually a few years ago when I first talked about Hövding and their “air bag for your head” product. Every once in awhile I catch someone else posting a story about the device, but it seems to have been mostly quiet.

But now you can find videos on YouTube of these things in action. And these aren’t crash test dummies here. These are real live humans putting their heads on the line, trusting the devices to protect them.

Love riding a bicycle but hate the helmet preventing the wind from ruffling your hair? Here’s a solution by two Swedish students.

— https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOolESrCcBw

Ever since Hövding was launched, we have received thousands of questions from keen cyclists all over the world, such as whether Hövding will ”pop” or not depending on the body movements in various situations. So now we are proud to present a number of short movies on the theme ”Will it pop?”. And while we´re at it, why not twist the scenarios a little…

— https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikYFfxpu3I0

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)