Motorsports
For decades, the extreme dangers of motorsports have been a proving-ground for protective gear. High-speed crashes almost always come with a risk of very serious or life-threatening injury. While professional motorsport athletes accept this danger with their eyes wide open, it isn’t only this population that is at risk. Today, according to the NHTSA, motorcycle accidents on public roads in the United States injure or kill more than 100,000 people a year and riders are 29 times more likely to die in an accident than a passenger of other types of vehicles. While reliable statistics on scooters and mopeds are less available, with electric-powered bicycles having their largest year of growth ever, more first-time cyclists are zipping through busy city traffic around the world.
Much of the public safety attention is focused on improvements in helmet protection, but lightweight body armor is also critical to the health and safety of riders. However, as in extreme and team sports applications, rigid armor that provides excellent impact protection can be intrusive to riders and impede their movement, which actually can increase their chance of accident. Further, its invasive nature can lead to the worst safety behavior possible— using no protection at all.
That’s why the combination of shock absorption technology in materials like D3O— which remain flexible and supple in general use and only become rigid at the time of impact— have provided a significant advancement in armor protection, while also allowing for highly-calibrated health sensors to be embedded in the material. This allows for real time medical diagnosis of injury, without compromise.