[SystemSafety] Bicycle Helmets

[Andreoli, Kevin (UK)]

I see a lot of cyclists riding around with helmets which seem to me to be perched on top of their heads and thus offer no protection to the side of the head.  These would probably help a lot in over-the-bars accidents but not in sideways falls onto kerbs etc.  As a (I should probably say former) motorcyclist the helmets I am used to would appear to offer much more protection.   One alternative I see are the hard helmets worn by skateboarders which seem to protect the top half of the skull without being as thick as the cycle helmets.  I presume these are made more like a motorcycle one.

We all appear to know people who are thankful for their helmets and I am surprised that the statistics don't show their usefulness.   That said, a friend who never commuted to work without his and was saved by it, never bothers when he is riding down to the pub!  Go figure.

Opinions not those of my employer.



-----Original Message-----
From: systemsafety-bounces at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de [mailto:systemsafety-bounces at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de] On Behalf Of GRAZEBROOK, Alvery N
Sent: 15 October 2014 15:02
To: systemsafety at lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de
Subject: Re: [SystemSafety] Bicycle Helmets

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An observation - recently, I saw a cyclist in a motorcycle helmet. Maybe they had read the BSI standard and decided they needed something more?

One design feature of motorcycle and horse-riding helmets is that they protect the neck from being over-flexed by having a lowered back edge to the helmet. This is not a feature of normal cycle helmets. I wonder if the statistics would improve if there were a second bike-helmet standard designed for "high-speed or long-distance" cycling? 

Cheers,
	Alvery

** These opinions are my own, not necessarily those of my employer **


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