On Track Off Road No. 191

What’s your view on airbags?
Is it something that can enter
off-road and bicycles or is it
something that is too impractical?
So there is a device called a
Hovding which is sold in Holland
for street cyclists and
at a point it will deploy and
cover the head and neck and
it has really good head-andneck
force results. It’s a great
product. If you look at MotoGP
and airbags then they are getting
better, better and better
in terms of the algorithms.
There are a couple of key
problems: how do you deploy
at the right time? And there
have been huge advances in
the algorithms to help with
that. We are not privy to the
data and the actual end result
and the clinical worth of an
airbag and what it does so
there are a few reservations.
We have discussed airbags ad
nauseam. We have also tested
them and airbag jackets and
we are still convinced that it is
not the right solution for Leatt.
We believe that a hard shell
in the right place, at the right
time - all the time - is the best
solution. Why? If you have a
piece of safety equipment it
absolutely has to be there or
deploy at the right time or
you risk causing an accident.
If you look at body size and
shape between deployed and
non-deployed then it is considerably
different. Our major
concern after doing some
research and impact testing is
that the way the body impacts
the ground changes: air does
not absorb energy. It becomes
a rigid structure and it protects
the occupant but if stays
that way for more than the
primary impact then it needs
to dissipate air over a period
of time. If you look at a car
airbag then as soon as you go
into it then it starts dissipating
energy immediately. Initially
when they started testing
them in cars – and Volvo did
this – they were a lot of fatalities
particularly from children
from hitting airbags that
did not dampen the force or
because the size of the occupant
and the airbag were
mismatched. If you consider
a MotoGP rider who crashes
at high speed and slides down
the track with the airbag
deployed then his ‘shape’ has
changed. If he starts tumbling
instead of sliding then you
have other injuries. In a motocross
environment it would go
off and can you imagine getting
back up and trying to get
on the bike with a deployed
airbag? Will it actually protect
you when you hit the ground?
Will it cause more injury and
how will you quickly deal with
the inflated airbag? I think for
these types of sporting applications
then it is not practical.
For someone riding on the
street then I think the products
test really well but I don’t
think you can take that technology
and apply it to all sorts
of situations.
Lastly, you spent time and
effort developing a road
racing brace that never came
to fruition. Is the road neck
brace something that’s dead
in the water?
I think street is a very different
market and naïve enthusiasm
in the beginning meant that
we tried to solve all problems
with the same solution. I also
think that you have to pick
your battles. If a problem is
very difficult to solve then
your solution might not be the
best one. In off-road racing
there is no doubt that Leatt
provides the right solution.
But if you look at the instances
of head and neck injuries
at high speed sports then
normally it is reduced because
you slide. Probably the worst
thing you can do is fall off a
horse – at a height at relatively
low speed because your
whole force and weight follows
the head into the ground
and your torso weight-loads
the neck. You don’t slide out
of the way, you just load the
neck. The same in motocross:
you hit sand and you just stop.
On the street you can slide
more and that’s why the neck
injury rate is much lower. I’d
really like to see what impact
the airbags have had in MotoGP.
I’m not sure we’ll ever
see that data but it would be
fascinating.
LEATT & MOVING FORWARDS