Air-bag motorcycle jacket?

 Drinks for all. TGIF!

Don't know if this has been posted before - but it's new to me:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21270401/

--
Diane
'07 XL 1200L
BS#142, SENS, MANS
www.eddiekieger.com

 
"Diane Johnston" wrote...

The Marines were testing an inflatable vest a few years ago.
Had to hook up tethers between you and the bike.
If you were separated from the bike, the vest would inflate.
Haven't heard anything about it in a long while.
--
Arie- Jax, FL - BS#70 - LFS#3 - SENS
'82R100-'83 FXWG-'06 GSX600F

 
Arie Bresser wrote...

 I'm certain you will look really cute if you dismount your bike and
forget to disconnect the lanyard, falsely inflating the air bags.

 Davïd
 Greenville, NC

 I've seen this a couple of times, and it always looked to me like the
inflatable clothing people are looking for a bigger market for their
clothes. Most of these are sold as lifevests - if you fall overboard,
yank a lanyard and you're floating until they can come pick you up.
Some are water activated - if you're in the water for more than a few
seconds, they inflate. They build them into heavy jackets, light
jackets, and even suspenders. When you're actually working on a boat,
not just riding around, a life jacket can be a real PITA - these
aren't.

But I don't see how they can be realistically marketed as crash
protection, and I'd love to see what sort of crash data they have.
Almost all the motorcycle injuries I read about are head or limb
injuries, very rarely torso injuries. And how much protection is a
plastic bag full of air? The ones for flotation are unbaffled as well
- if you land on your front, all the air just rushes to the back and
you get little or no impact reduction. Air bags in cars are
directional - the air from the front air bag doesn't get compressed
into the side air bags if you slam into it, it compresses between you
and the object you're about to slam into.

And there are accidental discharges on these things as well. The water-
activated ones, after a surge in popularity when they first came out,
almost disappeared among racing sailors due to the number of times it
is inevitable you get soaked when you're pushing a boat hard. Even the
lanyard ones sometimes get caught, or just go off due to corrosion in
the triggering system. This doesn't matter a lot on a boat doing only
a few knots - embarassing, can cost you a race, but don't usually
cause injuries - but on a bike doing 70, I'd have real problems if my
jacket suddenly exploded outward.

Anybody that would like to point out some actual accidents or injuries
that this might have prevented or reduced, or that can offer further
information on their design and effectiveness, I'll call for top-shelf
drinks to keep you talking.

 
Just one incident:
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/14328936/detail.html

--
"Wakko" NTXNS TOMKAT SENS PHS BS#257
'06 FLHTCUSE "Ultra Chicken" '03 FLSTSI "BlingBling"