Airheads

I see the Swedish airbag helmet company, Hövding, has gone under. Count me not surprised.

(Let me say at this point that I’m not gloating over the closure of a company. People’s who didn’t make any of the decisions had their lives affected, and that’s sad. I’m just pointing out that it was bound to happen, since it was always a terrifically dumb idea. And here, my dears, is why.)

The Hövding helmet was trying to “fix” a problem that didn’t exist. We already invented bicycle helmets. They work. But Hövding decided it was time to “disrupt the space” and make them sexy, and managed to convince some investor that this was an idea with wings. So they came up with a personal airbag for your head that you wear around your neck as an ugly, sweaty collar, which will explode into existence whenever needed, and then pitched that concept with a straight face.

So .. why? So you don’t mess your hair up when cycling! Let me repeat that: so you don’t mess up your hair. While cycling. An activity in which you proceed at speed through moving air. And also, apparently, Hövding offers slightly better protection in some – but not all – collisions.

You also have to keep the stupid thing charged, and trust that its cheap electronics will work as advertised that one time you need it to (and in some cases, they haven’t). Also, after it triggers, you’ll have to throw the whole thing away and pay for a new one. I’ve seen a couple of them in my building’s garbage room, like used head condoms. They’re big. All that material, sent off to be incinerated.

But Paddy, it offers better protection than a helmet, haven’t you seen the research?

Sure it does. In a few chosen situations. And in others, it causes no protection at all. Such as when you cycle at speed into a low sign, or tree branch, or bus mirror. When something falls onto your head from above. When someone swings a baseball bat at you (hey, it happens). A friend told me a story where they were about to cross the street and saw two (male) bicyclists stopped at the lights, having an argument. One shoved the other, triggering his Hövding, which them popped out, leaving him standing there like a bird doing some kind of mating display, while the victor rode away, laughing.

Design should move on and up. Of course it should. But not at the cost of more resources, and increased stupidity in the world. The airbag helmet was a dumb (and expensive) idea, and now it’s gone. Occasionally, just occasionally, capitalism works as intended. And I guess we should be glad for that.

(For those who speak Swedish, there’s a great Flashback thread with some amazing quotes. Some so good they should have been on the product. “A helmet for idiots who fall off their bike for no reason.” They should have gone with that, it could have saved them. But now, alas, we will never know.)

/ Paddy