Since the dawn of the automobile, cars and cyclists have had a… Strained relationship. Especially since cars weigh thousands of pounds more than the average cyclist. When a car collides with a cyclist, especially in cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, or San Francisco with a lot of foot and cyclist traffic, it usually doesn’t end well.

Many cities have tried to change their infrastructure to combat this. Better separated bike lanes, crossing lights, high-visibility signs with sounds—you name it. While data shows those things lessen deadly collisions, it doesn’t completely fix it.

That’s where Subaru comes in. In Japan, large cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, and others have a lot of cyclists. And cars. Japan made similar changes to its cities’ infrastructure, but didn’t notice a dramatic difference. So, Subaru said, “Okay, you guys fixed the cities, but what about the cars?”

In 2016, Subaru debuted a pedestrian airbag on the Impreza. It was an external airbag that deployed along the wiper line to protect a pedestrian’s head when hit, to avoid slamming into the windshield (which is, you know, glass). It worked wonders. Now, they’re extending that technology in the 2025 Forester to have the world’s first cyclist-centric airbag.

The Subaru’s cyclist airbag is similar, but different

Subaru Japan’s website explains it best. The pedestrian airbag worked great for protecting pedestrians, but cyclists were still being seriously or fatally injured when hit. Subaru Japan performed several studies using cars and dummies on bicycles to see why, and figured it was because the pedestrian airbag didn’t come up high enough.

Researchers figured it was obvious—a cyclist sits up higher than a pedestrian, so their head is higher, needing more airbag. Instead of reinventing the wheel, all engineers had to do was improve an already successful design.

Now, instead of the airbag only following the windshield wiper line on the bottom of the window, the two ends extend up to the A-pillars. This way, cyclists and pedestrians alike will be protected.

Before you march to your local Subaru dealership…

As of right now, Subaru hasn’t confirmed whether or not the cyclist airbag-equipped 2025 Subaru Forester will be sold in America. So, it’s assumed that the Japanese market will be the only one to see the innovative airbag being used.

Only time will tell if we’ll see it in the States.