Cars are equipped with airbags to protect us in the event of a crash. Now motorcycle riders have something to protect them too, in the form of a wearable airbag in motorcycle.

John Williams at most at home on the open road, but safety, he says, takes precedence over fun.

“There is a saying in the motorcycle community, ‘All the gear, and all the time’ and I try to stick to that as much as I can,” John said.  So we asked Williams — a member of our News 8 family — to check out the latest product to hit American shelves in the way of motorcycle safety.

It’s called the armored air vest, and the company that makes it says it works like airbags do in a car. “We’ve had seven or eight people who were in accidents, ejected from their motorcycles and the vest inflated and gave them extra protection,” VP of Armored Air Products Stanley Conley said”. Williams took it for a test drive.

“It’s nice. It allows the breeze to blow through and enter into my jacket, so it’s still cool,” he said.

Short of getting in an accident, we inflated the vest to see it in action.

“It’s not going anywhere. This could take a serious impact. I’m really surprised,” he said.

But John did have one concern.

“I’ve been in a motorcycle accident and I went down fast. I don’t know if it would inflate fast enough,” he said.

The vest retails for $250, and a leather jacket version is $595.

“This is something that I guess could be moderately more comfortable than a jacket that always had the pads in it,” Dangelis said.

But UCSD trauma surgeon Vishal Bansal says it’s still unclear if this design is more effective than other vests that are already on the market.

“I’m not necessarily sure if it will prevent fractures of the spine, prevent fractures of the extremities, and I don’t see how this vest would necessarily prevent head injuries also,” Dr. Bansal said.

At the very least what the armored air vest offers is just another safety option for people like John, making the ride all the more enjoyable at motorcycle tire change .

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