(bang)
- I'm glad that wasn't my head.
(intro sound)
I've been lucky enough to be invited
out here to the Volvo headquarters
in Gothenburg, Sweden, to check out
the collaboration between Volvo and POC.
They will, for the first time ever,
test exactly what happens in a collision,
between a car and a bike.
Volvo and POC have been collaborating
for a number of years to improve
safety for cyclists on the roads.
This has taken a few forms over the years.
Including the concept of a helmet that could
connect to a car, to warn a driver that
there is a cyclist nearby.
More recently though, they collaborated
on the map of collisions which tracks
the exact locations of collisions between
cyclists and cars in Sweden.
They then use this data to work out
exactly the types of areas where
cyclists and cars are coming into contact.
This latest collaborations though
could be really interesting for
anyone who rides a bike.
For the first time ever Volvo and POC
are going to be testing exactly what happens
if a cyclist is involved in a collision with a car.
They then aim to use this data
to help reduce the risk of injury or death
when cyclists are involved in collisions with cars.
We have seen a lot of comments on this
sort of project in the past.
Along the lines of why are we focusing on this?
We should just be separating bikes and cars completely.
And yes, absolutely in an ideal world
cars and bikes would never come into contact.
Unfortunately though, this isn't the world we live in.
And at least for the near future,
cars and bikes will continue to come into contact.
And there will unfortunately be collisions between the two.
So I think it is incredibly important that
companies like POC and Volvo are trying
there best to ensure that when these collisions
do happen, the consequences are as minor as possible.
That in no way changes the fact that cars
should never be in a position to
hit a cyclist in the first place.
It's just nice to know that if it does happen
the cyclist will be as safe as possible.
I'm about to go meet Magdalena Lindman.
Magdalena is Technical Expert of
Traffic Data Analysis at Volvo.
And also a member of the POC lab.
The POC lab is a collection of experts
from various industries that advise POC
to ensure any protective clothing and
helmets that they produce are the
best they can possibly be.
This makes Magdalena the perfect person to
ask a few questions about today's test.
Magdolena, thank you for joining us today.
What is it that you are looking for from these tests?
What results are you after?
- So we figure that cyclists crashes are really complex.
They come in all various kinds of types.
The most common cyclist crashes are single cyclist crashes.
Um, then you have a portion of the
cyclist to cyclist crashes, and cyclist
to positions crashes. And then a small
portion of cyclist to motor vehicle crashes.
Are approach is to avoid the crashes.
We don't want to get into situations with
unproductive road users.
So, we introduced the Pedestrian Protection System
with auto-brake bred in 2010.
We also came up with the Cyclist Protection with
auto-brake in 2012.
- So you previously worked with POC
to create the map of collisions.
What was about the number of accidents you
saw that you saw that inspired you to create that map.
- So the map of conflict, that's really
the guidance into the real-world crash data.
It's a picture of how we classify crashes.
Cars to cyclists.
And uh, what we learn from the crash data is
being used in all the collaboration
that we're doing together with POC.
(montage music)
- Pockets, I quite like this.
(montage music)
So just before we actually do the test,
I'm joined by Magnus Gustavsson
who is head of the hard goods over at POC.
Who's going to talk us through exactly
what's going to happen in this test.
You see I'm holding the helmet
which is going to be the test subject.
And you have in your hands?
- I have a pedestrian uh, head head form.
Uh.
- Well today a cyclist because we're going to
put a helmet on it.
- Exactly.
So it's not a body it's just a head form.
It has accelerometers inside to measure
all the different parameters that we want to look into.
- Yeah, and that head is going to be fired
into the Volvo behind us.
Via this giant ram above us.
Which looks quite intimidating when
you stand right underneath it.
It's going to be measuring, what's speed
are they doing it at?
- 35 km/hr.
- So the sort of speed that you might
encounter in a city.
- Yeah
- In this sort of crash.
- Exactly.
At a crossing, um, if you get hit by a car.
That's the average speed that you actually get hit by.
35 km/hr.
- And your doing it at certain angles
based on research from Volvo and from yourselves.
- Yeah and there are also standards
uh, involved here as well so we're telling
us to standard.
Um, but we will also look into
different angles and different speeds.
And see what what happens actually.
- The teamwork your doing together, it's
the first time a helmet has ever been
tested on a car isn't it?
- Yeah.
- Which makes it really exciting.
So do we actually know what information
we are going to get from this test at the moment.
- Yeah, we will look into both uh,
straight impact and of course we will
look into all the rotation and the impacts as well.
Uh, what accelerations actually are
and how big they are and uh, how
big the speeds that we actually reach.
We want to modify the helmets in different ways
to see what we can actually make better
and improve in the situation.
- So the information that you get today,
the data that you collect, that will go directly
towards development of helmets in the future.
- Definitely yes.
- I'm quite looking forward to the results
when they do come through in a minute,
you can talk us through what we see.
- Definitely.
- Brilliant.
Thank you Magnus.
Good luck with the test.
- Thank you.
- Today we are starting by firing a replica
human head, weighing 4.5 kilos and filled
with sensors to collect crashing information.
We will be beginning with a 35 km/hr
impact at 60 degrees.
But the testing won't be stopping there.
Volvo will be utilizing their catalog
of collision data from years of testing
real world impacts to conduct tests
that meet the criteria of all this data.
Building together with POC a greater
understanding of exactly what happens
within these collisions.
(drumming music)
(bang)
- Ha.
(montage music)
- The thing that blows me away the most
is that looking at the bonnet,
you actually can't see that there's been an impact
until you get down really close.
You can see it in the fold of the me- the metal.
There is actually a crease in it.
It has absorbed so much energy.
And it's sprung back almost to it's original shape.
Not quite there 100%.
It's like dropping a stone into a pond.
It ripples so much.
But it's absorbed the energy of the impact,
which is going to protect the occupant
of the helmet, most importantly.
But it also means you can carry on driving.
To help us get a better understanding of
why tests like today are being conducted,
I'm joined by Claes Hulting MD PHD of POC lab,
who is going to help explain things further.
Claes what is it about the tests that we conducted
today that are so important for the future.
Going forwards for injury prevention,
and safety on the roads.
- Prevention is difficult because it has
lose status earlier, and people didn't
really pay enough attention to everything
you can do in order to prevent serious
damage after various types of crashes.
And it's not until you actually take
this seriously, and take it to this level
where you can have actual testing
on on how an real situation occurs
in actual world.
So what happens different to in a real situation
um, impact and when you have a vehicle hitting
a pedestrian or a car hitting a bicycle person.
And seeing and understanding what
actually is going on.
It's difficult in real life to
see what's actually happening to your
brain in a concussion when these things happen
but at least during a session like this at Volvo,
in their magnificent lab and it gives
us a much better understanding, and also
it gives everyone involved a realistic
view on the seriousness of this.
And how how important it is to try to do
extremely much to prevent these things because
you don't get the feeling for enormous violence
impact until you are in the lab, and
see this happening in front of you.
(montage music)
- To get a prospective of the tests
we've seen today I'm joined Per Hamid
who is a brain injury specialist.
Per Hamid, thank you for joining us.
- Thank you.
- What was it about the test today
that you find so interesting going forward
to how are they going to use that
information going forward to protect the brain.
- What will very, it will very interesting
to see uh, the test uh, and how cars
have been developed.
(montage music)
When you have an impact, how the car
absorbs the energy when this kind of
uh, the helmet with the have the hits
it was really amazing to see with this
high speed camera.
And the interesting thing was that
the, you saw that the absorption of of
the impact was the car.
The helmet wasn't that effective.
Which was really interesting.
It's the opportunity in in actually
having collaboration with the, with
the car manufacturers like Volvo, uh
who are thought leaders when it comes to
protection of of within the car.
But also now we we we consider also
what's going on around the car.
Uh, pedestrians, bicyclists, etc.
There has, there is a lot of knowledge
of of combining different angles in
innovation pro uh uh, in this kind of
innovation project.
Will improve uh, and develop uh, uh, uh
equipment so you reach more of a protective effect.
Rather than just sitting in your own chamber just
trying to to be smart.
SO it's really interesting when from an
in innovation dimension, being creative.
For me, as a technician, when I work
with the research uh, you know when we
we are not aware of what what actually
happened in the accident.
Yeah you might get the report,
but it's rare.
How have they analyzed what actually happened?
I I see the consequences and I work
with the consequences.
But the impact itself so the interesting
now in this collaboration going from
experimental setting into a real life monitoring.
Combining that kind of information.
I think will really bring us forward
in how to both develop more protective equipment
as well as having strategies in how
to minimize the consequences, if you have any.
- So to answer my final questions, I
now have Oscar Huss who is Head of
Development at POC, and a member of
the POC lab team as well.
What we've seen in the test today,
I want to know how long is it going to
take for the results of that uh
implemented in helmet design and
in car design?
How long will it take from today's
tests to actual real world application.
- Yeah so em, depending on what we see in
the testing depends like we can see something that
em, that's fairly simple to solve.
Uh, we can update the construction or materials
of something that we actually know,
that we have technology for.
Um, but we sometimes also find things that are like wow
that's something unexpected, that might
require completely knew test set up.
And more research, new test method or whatever.
See it depends, but in most simple cases
uh, and if there is something that we
know that with existing technologies
we could address this issue, then
we're looking at around 18 months until
the costumer sees it.
- Today they may well be researching
together behind closed doors,
but the data they collect released and made available
to other manufacturers.
Enabling more of us to benefit from their
cutting edge testing.
This is all in the name of creating a
safer environment on the open road for everyone
no matter which end product you choose to use.
And that is pretty special.
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