Test: Car Airbag to Protect Cyclists

UTRECHT, the Netherlands - The Swedish-American company Autoliv will start testing a car airbag system which is to protect cyclist for severe injuries when hit by a car. The testing will take place this autumn in THE European city for cyclists; Amsterdam.

With a mandatory airbag on the outside of the car hundreds of cyclists lives can be saved in Europe. Autoliv expects that with positive results from the tests the airbag system will be ready for production in 2015.

Autoliv’s airbag system is able to recognize cyclists as well as to determine when a collision is unavoidable. At such a collision, the airbag is to go off at precisely the spot where the cyclists’ head will hit the windscreen of the car. Thanks to the airbag the cyclist stands a good chance to survive the accident with minor injuries.

Prototype

The Dutch labatory TNO Automotive recently started crash testing of the first prototype of the airbag system. The further perfected prototypes will be used for the Amsterdam series of tests this autumn.

The Dutch association for cyclists ‘Fietsersbond’ advocates mandatory car air bags for the protection of cyclists. In order to complete the tests € 2.7 million is needed, half of which will be funded by the Dutch Ministry of Transport. The expectation is that other countries and suppliers as well will support Autoliv for the further development of the airbag system.

Movies TNO-impact tests

On Youtube.com six movies of TNO-impact tests with a bicycle are shown. The movies are in slow motion. In the first three movies you see the accident on the right front of the car. Both car and cyclist are riding 20 kilometres per hour.