Airbag jackets for motorcycles are starting to get a lot more useful. Last week, motorcycle wear company Dainese announced a jacket, called the Misano 1000, that includes a built-in airbag and all of the tech necessary to automatically know when to deploy it. That last part is what's important: other airbag jackets tend to rely on cues from sensors integrated with the bike itself, if not with an actual tether to the bike. The Misano 1000, on the other hand, seems to have acceleration sensors built into the jacket that can detect when a rider is in a collision or has been thrown from the bike. That should allow a rider who wears one of these to move from one motorcycle to another and bring the protection with them.

The jacket's sensors activate 800 times a second

Dainese says that the Misano 1000 is the first airbag jacket that works on its own, without any need to connect to a bike (although, similar systems appear to be in the works). The jacket works by activating its sensors 800 times a second to monitor their wearer. When they detect an accident, the jacket will inflate about two inches in the areas where an airbag is present, with the intention of protecting the wearer's collar bone, chest, and back, as well as keeping strain off of their neck. The system presumably has to be powered — though Dainese doesn't mention how in its announcement — but the jacket will automatically enable itself once it's fully zipped up and clasped. The jacket is supposed to come out this November with a price of €1499, or about $1695 USD.

If you want to know more, you can watch this glorious promo video, which would like to think that it's a lost scene from Fast and Furious or Forza: