Most people won't dispute the fact that air bags can the lives of people inside of their cars, but what about those on the outside? That's precisely why the Dutch Cycling Federation is asking that air bags be installed on the hoods of motor vehicles as well as on the inside.

The Dutch Cycling Federation cited 2006 statistics, saying that 261 cyclists died in 2006, 116 of whom died in car crashes. The Federation also mentioned a study indicating that these external air bags could save as many as 60 lives per year and prevent up to 1,500 serious injuries a year. The hood, after all, is the part of the vehicle that tends to hit cyclists during road accidents.

Fortunately for the Federation, that may not be far off at all. Sweden's Autoliv, Inc., the world's biggest air bag and seatbelt maker, had reportedly developed an air bag that inflates from the bottom of a vehicle's windscreen.