Airbag for scooters and motorcycles in development, will deploy in milliseconds

The Piaggio Group has partnered with automotive safety systems provider Autoliv to develop an airbag for powered two-wheelers such as scooters and motorcycle in order to enhance safety of riders. Both the companies have signed an agreement for joint development of airbags to provide better protection for two-wheeler riders.

The airbag will be mounted on top of the vehicle frame is claimed to deploy in milliseconds in case of a crash or an accident. Autoliv has already developed the initial concepts of such an airbag with advanced simulation tools. It has also conducted full-scale crash tests for the product.

The partnership with Piaggio will now help the company develop the airbag further and potentially commercialize it in near future. The vision is to better protect vulnerable road users. "The development of these products is an integral part of our sustainability agenda and an important step towards our goal of saving 100,000 lives a year by 2030", said Mikael Bratt, CEO and President, Autoliv.

The popularity of powered two-wheelers continues to rise around the world thanks to widespread urbanization and the practicality and ease of using such vehicles. Further, with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the fear of infection, many people prefer having a personal mobility option over public transportation, which makes two-wheelers a better option budget-wise.

Scooters and motorcycles these days come equipped with various advanced safety systems such as Antilock Braking System (ABS) and Anti-Slip Regulation (ASR). Other safety features on powered two-wheelers include Traction Control, Stability Control and Automatic Emergency Call Systems. While all these features make scooters and motorcycles safer for riders, the addition of airbags will be a further step in this direction.

However, this initiative is not something new. Honda, a few years back, had demonstrated the world's first production motorcycle airbag system which absorbs some of the rider’s forward momentum.

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