The post from Slider about the body protection on trial reminded me of something when I was watching the footage of the Moto GP the other day...

They mentioned that Chris Vermeulen was wearing the new Dainese leathers which have airbags... Was this a late April fools thing, or has anyone seen them in action?

Jon.

Yeah... tis true: http://www.dainese.com/eng/d-air.asp

Watch this race footage here at 40secs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWDmVPyqOJA

Johnny

Wow! That's really smart! I'm sure like car air bags people will come up with reasons why they can be more harm than good, but in general I really like the idea!

Cheers Johnny!

Jon.

I suppose it would all depend on how useable there are in the real world. I see in one of the other videos that the airbag is connected to the tank by a rip cord, so just how practical is that and how easy is it to deflate the airbag so you can get back on your bike again..or not look like a twonk on ther bus if you cant deflate it.. it dont look as if their a practical option for racers either, what happens if it self inflates at the high speeds these guys do, and once inflated after an off. if that their race over?

What about neck braces ? There was an article on our local news last night bout a lad who broke his neck in a MX race. Since that, neck braces have been used a lot locally apparently. Cant really find much bar this: http://www.motoshack.co.uk/acatalog/Leatt_Neck_Braces.html

I can see the point for MX use... but where do you stop?

John

A mate of ours had a trial version of something like this a year or so ago - we had great fun pushing him over in a car park (just him not his bike) to watch it inflate.

I can't help thinking that this is safety for the sake of safety

I don't know of a single person (and I mod a car owners board) who's ever been saved by an airbag in a car let along wearing one that inflates after you've hit the road