Hövding For Bikers: A Nifty Helmet With An Airbag!

Posted: 11/07/2011

Have a close look at the model on the left, can you see a helmet on her?

She's not wearing just a helmet, she is wearing 'the' helmet that comes with an airbag, a helmet that inflates on collision to protect a cyclist from severe injuries. An airbag that inflates in 0.1 seconds and gets triggered when its sensors register an abnormal action while a bike is being ridden. An airbag with a small helium gas cylinder that comes with an on and off functionality, a helmet that even has a USB connection built into it. And get this...its has a 'black box' in it that records 10 seconds of data just before an accident...and guess what?

You still can't figure out where the freaking helmet is?

That's the beauty of it! Notice a collar around her neck? It's not a fashion accessory, it is an incredibly innovative safety gear for bikers that can protect them from possibilities of suffering fatal injuries.

It is called Hövding (Chieftain), a clever innovation by two industrial design students from Sweden.

And this is how it looks when the airbag gets inflated:

Check out this video to see how it works:

Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin took six years to create this product and here's what Anna has to say about it:

"Both myself and my colleague are very keen cyclists, but in Sweden a law was brought in that all people must wear helmets. 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. So despite that law many people carries on not wanting to wear cycle helmets, and this is the same not just in Sweden but in places like UK too.

We wanted to make something to keep people sage and at the same time answer these questions for people, keeping them safe but looking good. We asked hundreds of cyclists what they wanted from a helmet or a device which could keep them safe."