Autoliv — the company behind the airbags and seatbelts in most cars you’ve sat in — now makes motorcycle rider protection. Its first fully developed wearable airbag system launches inside the RS Taichi T-SABE vest, debuting at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show on 27–29 March 2026.
This isn’t Autoliv supplying a component to someone else’s product. The company engineered the entire airbag system from concept through validation.
RS Taichi, a well-regarded Japanese riding gear manufacturer, took that foundation and refined it for real-world riding conditions. Different jobs, cleanly divided.
Wearable airbag vests have existed for years, with wildly varying credibility. An Autoliv-engineered system brings automotive-grade safety research and biomechanical testing to a category that has long needed exactly that.
The system is built as a scalable platform — integrable into different garment types, tuneable for different riding styles and markets. Autoliv isn’t treating this as a one-off.
Autoliv’s CTO Fabien Dumont called the RS Taichi collaboration a milestone in expanding mobility safety beyond cars. RS Taichi president Hirohiko Yoshimura said the goal was protection without sacrificing comfort — still the central challenge in wearable safety gear, where bulk and heat are the usual penalties.
This vest sits alongside Autoliv’s recently announced airbag for the Yamaha Tricity 300 scooter. Two motorcycle projects in quick succession isn’t coincidence.
For EV riders on electric scooters and urban commuter bikes, the timing is right. As electric two-wheelers grow in number, protection gear is becoming an essential part of the biking culture.
