Abstract
Airbags have been part of the standard equipment of passenger cars since 1981. So far, no airbag has been offered for motorcycles. Since several years though, corresponding tests have been reported. The subject Airbag as an element of passive safety" is up to date - especially for touring bikes.
This contribution gives a short survey of the real world accident events of motorised two-wheelers in Germany and Europe. After a short presentation of the development history of motorcycle airbags, some current research projects will be introduced. The main focus of this contribution is on the airbag for touring motorcycles which had been developed by the DEKRA Accident Research. This airbag has already been tested with mechanical triggering of the airbag, according to ISO13232/configuration 413m with good results regarding its protection effects. The testing of the airbag is supposed to be continued at further tests, whereby the subject sensor will be picked up in the future.
A short outlook on the possible protection benefit potential of the motorcycle airbag is completing this contribution.