VOLVOS have long been seen, somehow, as the motorcyclist's enemy. Whether it's because their drivers are swaddled in a sea of impact-protection beams and airbags or simply because the firm's angular cars of old always looked like they'd be particularly unforgiving to crash into, Volvos and bikes just haven't mixed well in the past. But maybe that's changing.
OK, so the latest technology is aimed at pedestrians (you didn't think a car maker might have designed something specifically to help motorcyclists, did you?) but having run out of space for more airbags inside their cars Volvo is starting to put them on the outside, too.
Making its debut on the firm's new V40, the pedestrian airbag inflates from the rear edge of the bonnet, shielding the windscreen and pillars. Designed to operate only in specific circumstances – between 20 and 50km/h (12 and 31mph) and when the sensors in the front of the car recognise an impact with a human leg – the system not only deploys the airbag but raises the rear of the bonnet. That increases the gap between it and the hard engine bits beneath as well as helping deflect the pedestrian upwards and presumably over the car. The front of the bonnet can also move backwards, softening the impact.
Whether or not it will deploy when the car hits a bike has yet to be seen, but if it does, it can't make the rider's chances any worse. However, the fact it seems to largely obscure the driver's vision means you got to hope that after hitting one pedestrian the driver doesn't then plough into a whole pavement-full of others.
