Thinking Outside The Car

First there were seat belts. Then air bags. Then the reengineering of car fronts to help pedestrians bounce up instead of getting knocked down when hit. Now the Dutch Cycling Federation is calling for carmakers to install air bags on vehicle hoods to protect cyclists. The group says external air bags would prevent 60 deaths—and 1,500 serious injuries—yearly in the Netherlands, where many people get around by bike. Scandinavians, who invented air bags, may come through. Although it has yet to find any takers, Sweden’s Autoliv, a leading air bag supplier, has developed a hood-mounted model that inflates on impact. It covers most of the hood and some of the windshield. “In Europe, roughly 15% of all traffic fatalities are pedestrians,” says Autoliv spokesman Mats Odman. “Most of them hit their head on the hood.” –David Kiley