Gizmodo: Airbags

Toyota Gosei Creates 360º Airbags, Plus One on the Front for Unlucky Pedestrians

AddyDugdale — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:15:00 EDT

We've already seen a version of this: Autoliv's hood airbag system, but Toyota Gosei (an offshoot of, no prizes for etc etc, Toyota) has gone one better. As well as protecting the pedestrian from being squished like a bug on a windscreen, it has airbags down the side of the car, both front and back, protecting passengers from injury in the event of a nasty shunt from every which way in the car.

The two cushions on the hood are supposed to protect the pedestrian's head and waist. There's no saying if and when Toyota will implement them in their vehicles. The system also includes an inbuilt radar and camera for pedestrian detecting, but my personal opinion is that too much "helping-hand" tech turns drivers into lobotomized eejits. If you don't use it, you'll lose it. [FarEastGizmos via Technabob]

Autoliv's Hood Airbag System Saves Dumb Walkers From Dumb Drivers

Chris Magor — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:06:33 EDT

Autoliv's new Pedestrian Protection System combines a hood that opens to cushion impact and a pair of hood mounted airbags to reduce the risk of serious injury when a car comes into contact with an unfortunate pedestrian, cyclist or motorcyclist. The tech's safety specs are impressive: "From almost certain death to less than a 15% risk of life-threatening injuries in a car-to-pedestrian impact at 40 km/h." [Autoliv via Autoblog via Inventor Spot]

Wearable Airbags Make Crashing on a Motorcycle a Hilarious Event

Adam Frucci — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EDT

Here's a video of a wearable airbag, something designed for people who ride motorcycles and people who are really accident prone. It's essentially a suit that inflates as you're going down, making sure your face doesn't stop your fall into the concrete. It's not due out until 2010, but check out the new video of it in action above. [Product Page via Boing Boing]

Ass/Boobs-Shaped Airbag Turns Car Accidents Into Even More Shameful Experiences

Adam Frucci — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:15:05 EST

This Takata airbag design is… interesting. Essentially, if you get in a car accident your face will be thrust quickly between two giant, inflatable ass cheeks. Or are they giant breasts? Depending on what you're in to, you could see it either way. In any case, I can certainly see how it would be more comfortable to mash your face into than a normal airbag, but is it worth the embarrassment when the paramedics arrive? Also, how do they compare to the feeling of having your face smashed into a real butt at high speeds? Commenters, I assume a few of you know, so fill us in. And hit the jump for the full ad.

[Boinkology]

Tyzx Twenty-Eyed Car

Jason Chen — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 17:20:49 EDT

Only one of these eyes are used to peek up your wife's skirt—the other nineteen are used to locate the position of passengers to deploy airbags more safely and effectively. Tyzx, the Menlo Park company that got an early injection of Paul Allen's seed, is working with Takata Group to speed up the R&D needed to get this to market.

Maybe they should work on adding a few more slanted eyes to make Asian drivers less crappy. Oh yes, I went there. – Jason Chen

The cars have eyes? [SF Gate via Jalopnik]

Horse Airbags

johnb — Tue, 16 May 2006 14:42:32 EDT

We suppose this is eminently useful if you often ride the range in pursuit of the wild Jackalope or like to tip your ATV into the ravine of an evening. As we see, this is a wearable airbag that protects the neck, shoulders, front, and ass-bone, which is a medical term for the bone in your ass.

There is a wire that hooks to the animal or vehicle and pulls a key in the vest when you're thrown. The vests are refillable and quite handsome.

Product Page [MrTrailer]