Innovative helmet tech to auto dial 911 in an emergency

Day by day, more and more people turn to motorcycles as a means to commute from point A to point B. While it may be motivated by practicality, it sometimes turns them into motorcycle enthusiasts themselves. Unfortunately, a major part of riding is the possibility of being involved in an accident. 

In these circumstances, being able to call 911 or similar emergency service as soon as possible could mean life or death. One friend of ours unluckily figured in a road accident along SCTEx a few months ago but was unable to call 911 or his relatives. His body was found by the authorities in a ditch about 200 meters from where his motorcycle was found, 10 days after.

Ty Uehara, a college student from the USA and also a motorcycle rider, almost lost his friend due to a motorcycle accident. His friend couldn't call anyone for help after suffering multiple injuries in an accident. This led Uehara to invent the ConTekt. The device uses a combination of GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes, and pressure sensors, as well as Bluetooth technology, to enable the helmet to automatically contact 911 (or similar emergency number and services) in the event of a motorcycle crash.

Uehara noted that the majority of motorcycle riders are unable to call immediately after a crash (assuming that the rider is still conscious) because their mobile phones are either in their backpack or mounted on the motorcycle which further aggravates the already dire situation.

Uehara's ConTekt won the 2019 University of Hawaii's Breakthrough Innovation Challenge, earning him the $2,000 grand prize that he plans to use to obtain a patent and to develop a working prototype.

For now, let's hope that technologies like this could enter production real soon to save as many lives as possible.

helmet road accident