THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW ENDED
The Hovding is a revolutionary safety device for cyclists that has already sold in its thousands, but it’s unlikely you will have noticed any on the roads – the world’s first cycling airbag is indistinguishable from a coat collar until it inflates in the event of a crash.
The airbag cost £10m to develop and is currently being assessed by leading cycle insurer, the ETA.
Win a Hovding cyclist airbag
We have one Hovding airbag to give away and entering the prize draw is free and easy.
Visit eta.co.uk/insurance/cycle/ and simply use the ‘Email Quote’ button to email yourself a quote for cycle insurance.
It takes less than a minute, and you will be automatically entered into the draw for the airbag. Don’t worry if you already have cycle insurance with us – you are welcome to email yourself a quote and enter the draw.
Hovding and its inflatable ‘invisible cycle helmet’
Hövding has sold more than 2,000 of its high-tech airbags, a significant proportion to cyclists in London. The film below shows the airbag in action. At a cycling exhibition in London, a volunteer deliberately rides his bike into a concrete column at speed.
How does the Hovding airbag work?
In many respects, the Hovding works like the airbag fitted by law to every new car. Its sensors record the wearer’s movements 200 times a second and in the event of an impending collision, the airbag inflates in one tenth of a second.
When the Hövding was tested against 13 of the leading cycle helmets available to buy in Sweden in 2012, it proved to have more than three times better shock absorbency than other helmets. To be CE marked, a cycle helmet must reduce the force of acceleration at head impact to 250 g. The best performing conventional helmet managed 196 g – the Hövding achieved 65 g.
Cycle insurance
Whether or not you ride with a helmet, cycle insurance from the ETA offers protection for you and your bike. Every policy includes as standard, new-for-old (no matter the age of the bike) and accidental damage (including race events and triathlon), £5m third party, £20,000 personal accident, Cycle Breakdown and much more.
Get an instant quote, or call us on 0800 212 810 (local rate 0333 000 1234 from a mobile) to find out more.
Peter
Excellent idea but at £250 is it re-usable? However what price a life?
Adrian
Your how it works only says what it does. I want to know what exactly sets it off. Is there a lanyard? An accelerometer? or dies it have speech recognition and wait for the appropriate expletive? Does it protect from unforeseen flying objects like busses that come to you rather than you going to the bus?
A bit of “techy” detail would be welcome. I’d rather be baffled by science than feel dumbed down.
Yannick Read
There’s a technical explanation of how the Hovding works at http://www.hovding.com/how_hovding_works/