Free Webinar - Motorcyclist Airbag PPE: An Alternative EDR Inflating the Survivability Margin of Rider Crashes

ABSTRACT

Airbag technology that is commonly associated with passenger vehicles has been integrated into motorcyclist street riding protective apparel roughly over the past decade. The majority of the modern-day designs are based upon an electronic system that monitor rider kinematics to activate deployments. Less known is that these devices contain EDR capabilities that can provide a new data source for motorcycle crash reconstruction. This research describes the airbag PPE construction, sensors, data capabilities, testing results, and data validity of airbag vests from three major motorcycling apparel manufacturers. A live demonstration deployment will be performed.

PRESENTATION SUMMARY

This presentation will introduce an alternative motorcycle crash EDR data source contained within modern rider protective apparel, the motorcyclist airbag vest. The history, construction, operation, arming criteria, and recorded data parameters of three mass-produced airbag devices will be shown along with a review of the EDR data from crash testing. A discussion of the airbag vest injury mitigation benefits and a live deployment demonstration will conclude this presentation.

TOPICS

1. Motorcyclist airbag vest technology history
2. Device anatomy, hardware, sensors, and power capacity
3. Interface and operation
4. Arming criteria
5. Deployment conditions
6. Data capabilities
7. Data parameters
8. EDR data testing/review
9. Protective benefits
10. Live demonstration deployment

Motorcycle crash reconstructionist Dr. Andre Doria is the co-founder and CTO of Compass Kinetics—a motorcycle forensic consulting firm based in Southern California—as well as a motorcyclist training instructor for the California Highway Patrol's California Motorcyclist Safety Program and for Total Control Training, North America’s largest provider of advanced motorcyclist training. He has served as a director on the board of California Association of Accident Reconstruction Specialists and is the Director of Research & Applied Sciences at Total Control Training. As a motorcyclist, Dr. Doria’s riding spans hundreds of thousands of miles and includes street, track, and off-road riding. Having extensively motorcycled North America, Central America, and Europe, Andre holds a certified membership with the Iron Butt Association for endurance riding. As a crash reconstructionist, his interests include motorcyclist EDRs, motorcycle collision dynamics, rider behavior, and advanced photogrammetry and multimedia analysis.