Pedestrian Airbags – Everything You Need to Know

As recently as the middle of the last century, seat belts were not standard equipment in many car brands. Today, however, failing to wear a seat belt can result in a fine and penalty points, as seat belts are now fitted in virtually every vehicle. And that's not all. There are ongoing discussions about three-point and five-point seat belts, with the latter being particularly suitable for child car seats.

Every standard version of the car models we know today is also equipped with an airbag – at least for the driver, and often for the front passenger as well. There are several types of airbags, but relatively few people have heard of airbags designed specifically for pedestrians. What are they? How do they work? And what are they supposed to protect us from?

The concept of pedestrian airbags is nothing new, as work on this technology began many years ago. However, this solution has not become as widespread as one might expect from such an important safety innovation.

Volvo was the first car manufacturer to introduce seat belts as standard equipment, and the company also pioneered external airbags designed to protect pedestrians.

There are several other important facts worth knowing:

• This solution is justified by the number of road accident fatalities, with pedestrians all too often being among the victims.
• Statistics indicate that pedestrians account for approximately 25% of road traffic fatalities in China, almost 15% in the European Union, and around 12% in the United States.
• The head is particularly vulnerable in accidents involving pedestrians. During a collision, it may strike the bonnet, windscreen, or A-pillar – hard surfaces designed to protect the occupants inside the vehicle.

When explaining how external airbags protect pedestrians, several important technical details are worth highlighting:

• Advanced detection system: The system uses sophisticated technology to detect whether a pedestrian is in front of the vehicle, determine their distance, monitor the vehicle's speed, and assess whether a collision can be avoided. The system is also connected to the vehicle's braking system, allowing it to initiate braking automatically.
• Seven dedicated sensors: The area in front of the vehicle is monitored by as many as seven specialised sensors.
• Airbag deployment: When the system detects an imminent collision, it activates the airbag. The rear edge of the bonnet, closest to the driver, rises by approximately 10 cm, while an airbag deploys across its entire width. The inflated airbag covers around one-third of the windscreen and the most dangerous sections of the front A-pillars.
• Rapid activation: The airbag is fully deployed within just a few hundredths of a second.
• Protection at lower speeds: The system is designed to help prevent fatalities and serious spinal injuries among pedestrians involved in collisions at speeds of up to 50 km/h.
• Collision avoidance takes priority: The system is designed to prioritise avoiding an obstacle before initiating the airbag inflation sequence, which reduces the driver's visibility by approximately 33%.