POC and Volvo Cars develop world-first car-bike helmet crash test
Accidents between bikes and vehicles can lead to serious injury or death, which is why the top Swedish sports and safety brand POC and Volvo Cars have teamed up to develop a series of world-first crash tests of bike helmets against cars as part of a groundbreaking new research project that aims to further protect cyclists.
Current bike helmet testing procedures are fairly rudimentary, involving helmets being dropped from different heights on either a flat or an angled surface, and do not take into account vehicle to bike accidents. The Volvo-POC project aims to further refine and advance such testing. The collaboration between the two companies consists of a number of specially designed crash tests at the famous Volvo Cars safety research facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden.
POC bike helmets are worn by crash dummy heads mounted on a testing rig, from where they are launched towards different areas of the hood of a static Volvo car, at different speeds and angles for various measurements. The tests are based on existing regulatory test procedures for pedestrian head protection. This allows POC and Volvo Cars to make a direct comparison between wearing a helmet and not wearing a helmet. The learnings from the research project will help POC make its helmets safer and more protective in the event of a car-bike accident.