Your Helmet Does Provide Impact Protection
If you thought that jacket you wear while riding provides you with good abrasion and impact protection, then you’re really only believing a half-truth. Most gear that you wear provides little to no impact protection according to a recent study reported on by the German publication Motorrad. Your helmet is the only type of gear that provides adequate impact protection.
The study was conducted by German UDV (Accident Investigators of Insurers). What it found is that jackets, riding pants, boots, gloves, and most other gear are good at providing abrasion resistance. You can slide across the pavement and come out relatively unscathed. However, when it comes to making contact with hard objects, like a car, you’re gear is woefully lacking.
Siegfried Brockmann, head of the UDV, said, “No practicable protective clothing is able to prevent a fatal injury in a collision with normal highway speed.” Basically, over 15 mph, that armor in your jacket and pants is more or less useless.
With that said, airbag jackets and vests do help. However, at speeds over 43 mph the airbag’s effectiveness is nullified. The UDV suggests further development in airbag technology. The UDV would like to see if it can be improved to be helpful at higher speeds.