Helmets: how much protection do they give?

[Anthony McCarthy]

We are told how vital wearing a helmet is when cycling but are the benefits overstated ?
There is a theory that drivers take more liberties with cyclists wearing helmets and drive closer to them thereby creating more risks.
Plus in a high speed accident involving a major impact to the skull a helmet won't prevent a significant head injury.
Are we placing too much emphasis on helmet use ?

 

[ianrauk]

Moved to the Helmet section of the forum
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and let the games begin.

 

[slowmotion]

Welcome Anthony .
I think that you will find the answers to these questions in the thousands of posts in the Helmets and Headphone forum.....


.......or maybe not......

 

[Davidc]

Yawn. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Just read the helmets debate section of the forum.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Helmet Zone."

Click to enter.
http://www.cyclechat.net/forums/helmet-headphone-debates.19/

 

[Anthony McCarthy]

Thanks for the welcome slow motion, great photo btw.
I can see it's a topic of some interest!!
I'll enjoy having a browse.

 

[Ern1e]

Like all things there is a for and against on this topic lol me I am a for it because they do offer some protection to the old noggin IMO.

 

[ufkacbln]

Not enough?

The British Dental Association campaigns for greater facial coverage.

The standard for sale in the UK is EN1078 and is so pathetic that EN1078 helmets are banned from competition in the US as inadequate.

Modern designs have features that actually increase injury according to some reports, smoother, rounder helmets are safer than those with snag points

Modern helmets demonstrably offer less protection than they did 10 - 15 years ago. The standard test for helmets was the Snell B95, there are few helmets on the sale in the UK that pass this standard

 

[Anthony McCarthy]

Why was the SnellB95 standard abandoned Cuno? Are helmets now designed for speed and style rather than for injury prevention?

 

[slowmotion]

Thanks for the welcome slow motion, great photo btw.

I've stopped smoking and trimmed the beard since that was taken.

 

[snorri]

Are helmets now designed for speed and style rather than for injury prevention?

Yes.

 

[classic33]

Yes.

With prices to match.

 

[ufkacbln]

The Snell standards ares still around and far from abandoned just unpopular with manafacturer's as they show up deficits in the helmet. Specialized are the main UK available helmets with this specification

They also test "off the shelf" products not batches manufactured for the test

There is good reason for this. The Trek Anthem was a helmet that passed the US CPSC standard. Yet when the final retail product was tested by an independent consumer organisation it failed abysmally and was recalled

 

[ufkacbln]

Are helmets now designed for speed and style rather than for injury prevention?

In the US, the Head Protection Reseach Laboratory is a recognised research organisation, and Hugh Hurt a recognised expert in the field of head injury prevention.

He wrote to the US standards authority on this matter for discussion.

To me the whole thing is summed up when the manafacturer's answer was not to address the issue, but to use more gaffer tape to prevent the helmet coming off during tests!

Yet they did not advise consumers that these helmets should be gaffer taped into place if you wanted them to work in an accident!

During the last couple of years, the technical staff at HPRL has encountered an interesting-and possibly dangerous-problem with the aerodynamic-shaped or streamlined bicycle helmets. These popular helmets have a teardrop design which tapers to a wedge at the rear of the helmet, supposedly reducing aerodynamic drag along with increased ventilation through the many openings in the shell.
The adverse effect of this aerodynamic shape is that the wedge at the back of the helmet tends to deflect and rotate the helmet on the head when impact occurs there. Any impact at the front or sides of the streamlined helmet is no different from other helmet shapes, but any impact on the rear wedge tends to rotate the helmet on the head, probably deflecting the helmet to expose the bare head to impact, and at worst ejecting the helmet completely from the head. Actually, everybody who has tested these streamlined helmets over the past years has encountered the problem of these helmets being displaced during impact testing at the rear wedge. Usually additional tape was required to maintain the helmet in place during rear impact tests; usually the basic retention system alone could not keep the helmet in place during impact testing on the rear of the helmet.
Unfortunately, the implication of helmet displacement and possible ejection in an actual accident impact did not register as a real hazard in previous years of testing, but now there are accident cases appearing that show this to be a genuine hazard for bicycle riders wearing these streamlined helmets. Accident impacts at the rear of these streamlined helmets can cause the helmet to rotate away and expose the head to injury, or eject the helmet completely. The forces generated from the wedge effect can stretch the chinstraps very easily, and even break the [occipital--Prof. Hurt used a trademarked name] retention devices.
We request that F08.53 committee study this problem and develop advisory information for both manufacturers of these streamlined helmets and consumer bicyclists who now own and wear such helmets. There is a definite hazard for displacement or ejection from impact on the rear wedge of these helmets, and bicyclists should be warned of this danger by an authority such as ASTM.

 

[Anthony McCarthy]

Very interesting Cuno.
I note that the recent Canadian study showed only minimal reduction in hospitalisation following introduction of compulsory helmet laws. I wonder if modern helmet design is the reason for this ?