Match made in Sweden: Volvo collaborate with POC to lead 'world first' bike helmet testing

To mark World Cycling Day, the two companies have come together to repair the well-worn relationship between the car and the bike in the hope of shifting the conversation

Volvo is pushing the envelope in the hope of one day developing collision-free motoring (Volvo)

The car and the bike have history. The car has always been mildly irritated by the bike, like it’s being followed by a benevolent bumble bee, while the bike has, understandably, always harboured a very rational fear of the car, like it’s living in the palm of Lennie Small.

But, to mark World Cycling Day, the two have come together to repair that relationship a little. Volvo and fellow Swedish company POC – which manufactures bike accessories – are collaborating in a “world first” series of crash tests that will analyse how a bike helmet withstands the impact of a vehicle.

Deep in its Gothenburg research facility, Volvo is putting POC’s helmets through rigorous assessments, mounting them on crash dummies and measuring their collisions with a stationary vehicle to directly compare the impact of helmet-head injuries with those sustained without one.

Bicycle helmets remain a fiercely debated subject. While they have obvious safety benefits, particularly in low-speed incidents, some studies have suggested car drivers actively give a wider berth to riders without a helmet, while cycling safety campaigners are concerned that the whole conversation draws attention away from issues like driver competency and road design.

For its part, Volvo is pushing the envelope in the hope of one day developing collision-free motoring via its detection technology, as part of its overarching mission that by 2020, “no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo car”.

“This project with POC is a good example of our pioneering spirit in safety,” says Malin Ekholm, head of the Volvo Cars Safety Centre. “We often develop new testing methods for challenging traffic scenarios. Our aim is not only to meet legal requirements or pass rating tests; instead, we go beyond ratings, using real traffic situations to develop technology that further improves safety.”

POC helmets undergo testing in Gothenburg (Volvo)

The hope is that the conversation might shift away from bikes vs cars to approaching road safety as a more holistic concept, one that requires the two sides to come together and share their knowledge.

“Much like Volvo Cars, safety is at the very centre of our mission, and drives all our ideas and innovations,” said Oscar Huss, head of product development at POC. “Certification standards are essential, but they should never limit our willingness to look beyond their parameters to find better and more innovative ways to reduce the consequences of accidents.