Moses Shahrivar designed his first pair of motorcycle jeans in collaboration with Harley-Davidson Sweden 16 years ago — featuring a protective leather lining. Now he is taking the idea one step further. His company Airbag Inside Sweden AB has designed a prototype pair of superstrong jeans that have concealed airbags inside the legs.

The wearer tethers the jeans to their bike and if they fall from the motorcycle, the airbags are triggered, filling with compressed air and lessening the impact on the lower body. The airbag can then be deflated, refilled with gas and reassembled into the jeans to use again, explains Shahrivar.

Airbag Inside Sweden AB is in the process of getting the jeans certified to European health and safety standards and is putting them through a series of crash tests.

The company has raised US$180,000 from the European Union to develop the idea and is hoping to bring the jeans to market in 2022. French company CX Air Dynamics has launched a crowdfunding campaign to develop a similar idea.

Equivalent technology for the upper body has been around for more than 20 years. Motorcycle airbag vests can be fitted under a jacket, and protect the chest, neck and sometimes the back. Early versions were tethered to the bike, like Shahrivar’s jeans, but more recently, autonomous electronic airbags have been developed, which instead use high-tech sensors to detect when the rider is about to fall.

Among the autonomous airbags on the market is a system created by French firm In&motion. The company started designing wearable airbags for professional skiers in 2011 and has since adapted the technology for motorcyclists. Rather than using a tether to trigger airbags, it has created a “brain” consisting of a GPS, gyroscope and accelerometer. A bit bigger than a smartphone, this box is placed in the back of any compatible vest.

“The sensors measure movements in real time and the algorithm is able to detect a fall or an accident to inflate the airbag just before a crash,” said In&motion communication manager Anne-Laure Hoegeli.

The box measures the position of the rider 1,000 times per second. As soon as an “unrecoverable imbalance” is detected, the airbag triggers and fully inflates to protect the user’s thorax, abdomen, neck and spine, explains Hoegeli. This takes just 60 milliseconds.

In&motion recently raised US$12 million in funding to expand in Europe and the United States.

While airbag protection is now mandatory in MotoGP and at this year’s Dakar Rally, airbags aren’t a legal requirement for road motorcyclists.(SD-Agencies)