I'm sure motorcycle air bags have come up in MCM before (from bikerdoc, if I'm not mistaken), but I could not find an appropriate thread, so here's a new one.

Someone sent me this piece from Yahoo today, and, given that it was from some US motorcyclists it was accompanied with all the sneering about the nanny state and overzealous regulators, etc. But the science appears to be real, and I, having sacrificed a collarbone to a getoff, would certainly be interested in knowing more.

Alas, I am not skilled enough to embed the video in this thread, so I'll just post the link with the text. The video is worth watching; not sure if you need a grannybuster inside China.

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A Step Towards Safer Motorcycle RidingBy Bill Weir, C. Michael Kim & David Miller | This Could Be Big – Tue, Dec 6, 2011

Engineers have been searching for years for a way to make motorcycle riding, an inherently dangerous hobby, a little bit safer.Options have ranged from thicker jackets to actual airbags inside the motorcycle, akin to a car, but I don't have to tell you the dangers of having an inflatable bag that propels out towards the rider in a vehicle lacking safety restraints.
Now there are two companies, Dainese and Alpinestars, who are developing wearable jackets that inflate via micro sensors that detect impact and take less than a second to achieve maximum size. While not yet available in America, they give hope for every rider who has taken a spill... or thought about taking a spill, but were too afraid.