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IPFS News Link • Techno Gadgets

A Motorcycle Helmet Will Call an Ambulance and Text Your Family If You Have an Accident

• https://motherboard.vice.com

In Pakistan, it is not uncommon to see large families, including children, piled up on a motorbike. Three percent of households have cars, but 43 percent of households have motorcycles, according to the Pew Research Center. The reality is that most Pakistanis cannot afford to buy a car, and motorcycles are a relatively inexpensive alternative. Yet motorcycle accidents are frequently deadly.

An Islamabad startup called Let's Innovate has designed a helmet that will call emergency services and text your relatives if you fall off your motorcycle. The helmet is currently in closed beta testing and the creators hope to put it on the market by mid-2018. But in Pakistan, where only 10 percent of all riders wear helmets, the company will face an uphill battle in convincing people to switch over.

Eventually, the company plans collect data and sell it to third parties, such as advertisers. For example, if a motorcycle rider routinely stops at a particular restaurant after work, that information would be shared with the restaurant, which in turn could send targeted ads and promotions to the rider. (The information would only be shared if the rider has opted to share his or her location with the merchant.)

Over the last 10 years, both road accidents and motorcycle sales have been on the rise in Pakistan. It is estimated that 15 people a day die in traffic accidents across the country. Among those killed in traffic accidents in the first six months of 2017, 83 percent involved motorcycles.

Image: HELLI

This helmet, known as the HELLI, was created by Waqas Khalil, Ali Syed, Awais Azhar, and Syed Abdullah at Let's Innovate. If a rider falls off the bike, the helmet


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