Volvo Cars is teaming up with Swedish sports and safety brand POC for a series of crash tests of bike helmets against cars.

The Volvo-POC research project consists of a number of specially designed crash tests at the Volvo Cars safety research facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is part of a wider research project to understand the types of long-term injuries sustained by cyclists.

During these tests, POC bike helmets are worn by crash dummy heads mounted on a testing rig, from where they are launched towards different areas of the bonnet of a static Volvo car, at different speeds and angles for various measurements.

The tests are based on existing regulatory test procedures for pedestrian head protection. This allows Volvo Cars and POC to make a direct comparison between wearing a helmet and not wearing a helmet.

“This project with POC is a good example of our pioneering spirit in safety,” said 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.”

Current bike helmet testing procedures involve helmets being dropped from different heights on either a flat or an angled surface, and do not take into account vehicle to bike collisions.

The learnings from the research project will help POC make its helmets safer and more protective in the event of a car-bike collision, while the tests will also provide valuable insights and learnings for Volvo Cars into these types of crashes for future development.