Gloucestershire Police motorcyclists equipped with airbag suits

THEY RIDE in all weathers and are often involved in high speed pursuits.

So its surprising that motorcycle road traffic officers don’t wear airbag suits as standard.

While police forces across the country have been trialling various airbag systems over recent months, Gloucestershire Police has just become the first force to equip all of its motorcycle road traffic officers with the technology, in the form of the Alpinestars Tech-Air vest system inside made-to-measure kangaroo leather BKS suits.

BKS won the contract to supply the first PPE (Professional Protective Equipment) standard leather suits for motorcycle-mounted officers back in the 1990s and the addition of airbag technology is a natural progression to keeping officers safe on the streets.  

Staff at Exmouth-based BKS received training at Alpinestars’s Italy HQ, enabling them to correctly fit and service the vests.

However, earlier this week, Alpinestars found itself in hot water, when a German court ruled that it had infringed on a Dainese patent with its Tech-Air vest.