Going back to 2014, POC and Volvo have a history of teaming up for safety initiatives. From Volvo’s auto braking system with cyclist detection, to working on bike helmets that will communicate with cars, the duo have worked together on a number of projects meant to keep cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers safer. Now, the two Swedish companies are getting together once again, this time to improve overall bike helmet safety.
The reasoning stems from how bicycle helmets are currently tested – which the press release calls “rudimentary.” Typically, helmets are mounted into test rigs and dropped from various heights onto specific flat or angled surfaces – though sometimes the testing can be more advanced in the case of the new Giro Aether with MIPS Sperical.
But POC and Volvo say that there is a critical component missing in these tests – vehicles. If you’re trying to create a helmet that better protects a rider in a car-bike crash, you may need to consider how a helmet reacts when struck by say, the hood of a car. Which is why new tests are being created by the duo in Volvo’s state-of-the-art testing facility in Gothenburg, Sweden. Using a static car hood as the impact surface, helmets are mounted to crash tummy heads and then placed on test rigs where they’re hurled towards the hood in different angles and speeds.