CRASH PILLOWS: Soften the impact from a car bumper, at least a little!

Here is my latest bizarre idea to keep me alive and functional in the event that an SUV or other motorized vehicle ever crashes into the rear of my recumbent trike when out on a day ride! If you have not already viewed the prior video presentation I showed last week, please watch it at this link for background info:
• It was a fun two-hour ...
And if you want pillows as shown in this talk, here is the Amazon link:
(They come in a two-pack, and you'll need two two-packs - They come in two sizes - small and medium - My four pillows are the MEDIUM size) ,,,
www.amazon.com/MOON-LENCE-Com...
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"TAKE IT EASY ... TAKE A TRIKE!" - trike hobo
Steve's current recumbent trike is a 2021 HP Velotechnik Scorpion fs26 Enduro, outfitted with Schwalbe Marathon PLUS road tires instead of the stock knobby off-road tires. He has also owned a 2015 ICE Full Fat off-road trike, a 2014 Catrike 700 speed trike, and a 2007 ICE Qnt trike ... not to mention three bikes (Specialized Roll Elite - Motobecane Night Train fat tire - Easy Racers Gold Rush recumbent)
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Other websites by Steve:
trikeasylum.wordpress.com
silentpassage.wordpress.com/
trikegypsies.wordpress.com/
trikephantoms.wordpress.com/
mojavetraverse.wordpress.com/

[@earlclinkenbeard7888]

That is a very. Good safety briefing thank you

[@EZSteve]

Well, it won't save a rider in a hard crash, but I like every little bit of extra bumper bounce I can get, haha. I come up with all kinds of crazy ideas, and then I end up sharing them here for the world to see. Glad you enjoyed it! steve

[@dansv1]

I was in the back seat of a car that crashed and rolled on a camping trip. There were several Stansport 5 gallon collapsible water containers in the seat next to me. They burst during the crash, but I believe they prevented me from getting seriously injured by absorbing a lot of impact. I was soaking wet when I climbed out of the back window, however.

[@EZSteve]

That's great to hear ... I think you are right that the compression of the water bottles, which resulted in shock absorption, made the difference between injury and walking away! Anything that absorbs shock between you and the impact zone is a good thing. steve

[@ronvanmildert4735]

That's a good idea Steve, never thaught about it. My panniers are empty most of the time when I'm not camping. I'll get some pillows tomorrow and follow your advise, thanks for the idea😊

[@EZSteve]

Hi Ron, At first, I was going to find some inflatable camping pillows, so I would have air bags so to speak. I don't know if they would be better or not, and hopefully I'll never have to find out the hard way. I chose these particular pillows because they were light in weight and there was no mechanical inflation system necessary for them to function. I wondered if inflatables would slowly deflate over time, and some reviews I read indicated that seams might not be up to snuff, so it just seemed simpler to get these memory foam pillows instead. Quite frankly, I had never considered such a thing for my panniers either, and when not out on an adventure, I always ran my panniers empty just like you have been doing. It was only after watching that very sad KRQE News 13 report on the two cyclists struck by the district court judge that I got to thinking that perhaps I should better my odds a little ... maybe not much, but hey, something is better than nothing in my opinion! Watch my video presentation prior to this one if you have not already seen the KRQE report. I am working on a presentation currently that takes this thought process even further, which I hope to post very soon, wherein I discuss some points that no one prior has ever delved into with regards to the safety of recumbent trikes. I guess that bike fatality and injury of those two riders really had an effect on me. They were both retired and loved to ride together, and that ride should have been just another great time as a team! I have ridden many hundreds of miles in very similar road conditions, and am shocked to see the fate that befell them that day. Anyway, check out the new video when it appears on this channel. See ya' ... steve

[@ronvanmildert4735]

Thank you for the explination Steve. You're right, it can happen to anyone any day and then it's to late. I have to work on my visibillaty too although I do have a flagpole with bright flags on it, but that's not enough I guess so I'm looking forward to your new video😊. See ya, Ron😊

[@The-GreenHornet]

YELLOW BUBBLE WRAP 💛 WRAP yourself in bubble wrap with fairy lights all around you.

[@EZSteve]

I thought about bubble wrap to place inside the bags, but figured these super lightweight pillows might be better. I could just bubble wrap the whole rear of the trike, haha, and then put mini christmas lights all around it. steve

[@The-GreenHornet]

You're giving me another idea for another funny video.

[@rdkuless]

if struck by a vehicle on a trike, your neck and back are supported. Always wear a GOOD helmet like the Smith Optics Forefront with koyroid and MIPS.. Steve...have you seen the inflatable helmets..? they look and function like a self inflating life vest.. they inflate instantly upon impact and they blowup like a airbag in a car.. same mechanism. they protect the rider from neck/head injuries..

[@EZSteve]

Hi Rob, Yes, a top of the line helmet is super critical. I have a BELL full coverage MIPS helmet, which is superior to the typical bicycle helmets I have worn in past years. People think it's overkill, but I enjoy my fully functioning body, so I reduce my odds of being severely injured or killed at every turn. My helmet is bright yellow also. As you mention, my neck and back have protection that a bicyclist does not enjoy, because the seat frame itself surrounds my torso (should have mentioned this in my video here), and the dry sack gives me some headrest type protection from whiplash. I have heard of the inflatable helmets, and have seen a couple of videos of them, but they do require a mechanical process to inflate and protect, whereas my helmet does not ... it is always ready with no chance of malfunction. Bicyclists have no torso or whiplash protection whatsoever, and they are high off the ground, so when struck from behind by a high speed motorized vehicle, their bodies really get tweaked horribly, with dire consequences! I thoroughly believe that recumbent trikes, properly outfitted with high visibility options along with impact resistant panniers (as I now have) is superior to a bicycle in the event of a rear end collision. We trikers are relatively low to the ground, with a low center of gravity, are on three wheeled tripods, and have a decent chance of steering our way off the side of the road under some semblance of control after being struck. Sure, trikes are marginally wider than bikes on the road, but the extra safety of a trike is worth it for me! steve