The Swedish Consumer Agency has completely stopped the airbag helmet Hövding 3. It may not be sold, and the copies that were sold are being recalled.
– It nullifies the company’s existence and the entire product category, says CEO Sofia Svensson.
The Swedish Consumer Agency writes in the decision that Hövding AB was unable to prove the safety of the “Hövding 3” helmet in tests. Therefore, they have not lived up to the certification, it is stated.
Among other things, the Swedish Consumer Agency believes that the helmet does not release quickly enough in the event of a collision with a truck or bus, that the effect has not been sufficiently tested if you cycle faster than 20 km/h and that the battery can run out without warning.
Chief: “Abuse of authority”
The company does not share that image at all.
– We have submitted very solid material to the Swedish Consumer Agency, says CEO Sofia Svensson.
The state-owned research institute Rise has done the tests that Hövding used.
– We have gone through this with Rise, we have a certification method that they continue to support, says Svensson.
Now Hövding’s CEO says that the decision from the Consumer Agency is an existential question.
– To come up with a decision like this after twelve years of sales is an abuse of authority. We wouldn’t have had employees hiring, customers buying the product and shareholders investing if we had known this.
– There is a very small probability that we will survive this.
Hövding AB has appealed the decision and requested a so-called inhibition, that the decision be lifted pending judgment.