Watch Alpinestars' New Tech-Air Self-Contained Airbag in Action

10 years ago - 17 November 2014, Autoblog

Airbags are getting a bit of a bad rap at the moment from Takata's recall, but as we all know, the devices can be lifesavers. Even motorcycles are getting into the tech with companies finding ways to mount the bags on the bike or attaching them to riders.

The latest innovation comes from cycle gearmaker Alpinestars, with an evolution of its Tech-Air system. The creative solution puts the bag and all of its sensors in modular form into specially made jackets.

The Tech-Air airbag itself is in a mesh vest worn underneath one of the compatible jackets, and the system arms when the coat is zipped up. According to Alpinestars' website, the system takes 30-60 milliseconds to detect a crash and fully inflates in 25 milliseconds. Some of the development of the algorithms determining when a rider is an accident actually comes from MotoGP racing. European sales are slated to begin this spring.

Check out the video above for a demonstration of the safety tech in action on a live person and then in crash test. If you watch closely, you can actually see the moment the airbag inflates.