There may soon be an airbag on your electric scooter or bicycle
Autoliv is currently busy in the laboratory developing a number of passive safety solutions for people who use soft mobility. For the moment, it’s still under study, although the equipment manufacturer did present several prototypes this week at the Autonomy show in Paris.
Using data collected according to the type of accident, engineers were able to simulate different types of collisions and thus determine the most appropriate solutions. For stand-up electric scooter users, an airbag placed at the front seems to be the simplest solution for absorbing a shock and avoiding being ejected too violently. It remains to be seen how best to position it or what level of pressure it should be given. Within a year or two, this type of device could very well have gone through the approval process and be available to various manufacturers and operators.
For motorcycles, scooters and bicycles, the principle remains the same, with the installation of an airbag ready to inflate in case of impact, in addition to driver-worn airbags, which already exist. The result is quite impressive, with significant bag volume, intended to prevent the biker from being ejected. At the moment, only Honda has brought this type of solution to its production, on one model for now. Autoliv is still investigating how to optimize this system before offering it to other manufacturers.
Autoliv is also developing an app that will allow users of scooters, bicycles and stand-up electric scooters to obtain a “safety score” based on their driving habits, similar to what the company already offers for car drivers. In addition to warning the user about potentially dangerous habits, this data can also be shared with the driver’s insurer to facilitate, for example, a bonus as a good driver. This new application should be launched later this year and will be offered for a subscription fee of a few euros per year.
The Swedish-based company is nothing less than a pioneer in driver safety working in the field of seatbelts as early as 1956 and airbags for motorists in 1980.
