Hovding

[fluffybunnyuk]

Air bag for cyclists

umm this isnt a h***** thread so to speak.

If any of you saw click on bbc recently it featured a nice air bag idea. I think its just the ticket for protecting the cranium, and inflates in less than 1/10 second.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B6vding

Any ideas if its available, and if so how much? Its high on my to get list ...

Emma

[hexhome]

http://www.hovding.com/en/ A snip at 400 Euro!

[MartinC]

Yes, helmets are obsolete now. An end to helmet debates. Substitute all of the helmet arguments for Hovding ones. Anyone who doesn't want them to be compulsory is anti-Hovding. It's common sense innit.

[Ayesha]

As has been asked on another forum, how does the sensor differentiate between a genuine fall and a cyclist stooping down to pick up the fifty pence he’s just dropped?
If the cyclist is alert and ultra quick, the fifty pence hits him on the back of the Hovding.

[Mistik-ka]

My perspective is that of a life-long cyclist who has spent two decades working in the main trauma ICU of a Canadian city (population 250,000) with a cycling season of 7-8 months for mortals, 12 months for a few hardy lunatics who appear to enjoy riding on ice and snow at temperatures that reach minus 40º C. Professionally and personally I am not unfamiliar with the results of cycling accidents.

I am old enough to remember the first car seatbelt I ever saw, and the scoffing that was rife when they came into common and later compulsory use. My ICU career spanned the introduction of airbags, and I saw first-hand what an enormous difference they made to the injury and death rate in automobile accidents, so I find the Hovding quite intriguing. The cost and inconvenience are notable, and my own feeling is that it may "not be ready for prime time" yet. And riding with a Hovding is a long way from just-get-on-your-bike-and-ride … but so are clipless pedals, and I understand they have been well-received in some quarters . As with a helmet, it won't do any good unless it's being worn, but if it saves the brain or the life of one cyclist who would otherwise have been unprotected, it would be a pretty good investment for that one cyclist.

Aside from aesthetics, has it any advantages over a good cycling helmet? I certainly don't know, but I wonder if it might offer some protection against a cervical spinal cord injury? For me and many of my colleagues a brain injury tops the list of things-I'd-rather-treat-in-others-than-acquire-myself, with quadriplegic paralysis coming not far behind. (I have a friend and former patient who is quadriplegic following a cycling accident in which he was wearing a helmet; and another friend for whom a Hovding might have prevented the necessity of years of facial reconstruction surgery after being knocked off her bike by — yup — a white delivery van.)

I think the Hovding is a piece of equipment that warrants serious consideration. After weighing risk vs cost-and-inconvenience I'm not about to rush out and import one for myself, but I fully respect the decision of anyone who does.

[MartinC]

Despite the flippant comments I made upthread I'd be genuinely interested to see if there's enough take up to show how they work out in use

[Mike Sales]

Despite the flippant comments I made upthread I'd be genuinely interested to see if there's enough take up to show how they work out in use

My first reaction is that the Hovding is self evidently ludicrous. But that is what I thought when I saw my first American tourist in a Bell hardshell, so what do I know?

[MartinC]

Mike, yes, my first reaction was similar. But when I look at our first attempts at bicycles and how they are now....................................

Whether the product and idea get developed will depend on whether there's any take up. It would be interesting to see, but I'm not buying one yet or maybe ever.