ZF reckons knee and heel airbags are crucial to prevent life-changing injuries, so it's made them

In preparation of a future of robot car driving, ZF’s Lifetec division has created the world’s first Active Heel Airbag and yes, this is now apparently a Thing.

Your heels haven't been given this much attention since your last pedicure, but since our future (self-driving) car cabins are going to become lounge-like places of relaxation, ZF Lifetec reckons that could leave our legs vulnerable to damage in the event of a collision.

Why? Pushing our seats back and getting into a more relaxed position isn't currently ideal. In a collision, the force of the crash sends energy into the parts of your body that make contact with the car. The heel airbag secures the whole leg with better alignment. When deployed with the knee airbag, together they minimise the chances of your knees twisting awkwardly.

By controlling the crash energy, the force which goes onto your femur – the strongest bone you have – transfers back to the vehicle, rather than breaking painfully. Harald Lutz, development chief at ZF Lifetec, said: "If the heel strike point is missing, the knees cannot be effectively deployed into the airbag and the knee airbag is less effective.

“Although the risk of fatal injuries is low in this case, without the Active Heel Airbag, there is a high probability of serious leg and foot injuries.”

Figures from a 2020 report put together by the UK’s Department of Transport show that leg injuries, including loss of a limb and leg or ankle fractures accounted for almost five per cent of injuries, roughly affecting 2,684 people involved in car accidents that year. Start extrapolating those numbers across countries and time and you’ve got… erm, a lot of people with a lot of sore legs and knees.

Count the wasted hours, sick pay, time-off, hospital bills, and life-long (preventable) impact on those folks and their families, and a heel airbag makes a tonne of sense. Of course, the technology will only work if occupants have their feet in the footwell – dashboard rebels, please review your leg choices.

ZF's readying the tech to be available from 2028.