Originally Posted by
cbrstar
I often wonder just how safe a helmet really is. I've seen two extremely bad experiences that I would like to share
My friend who was a avid cyclist was riding his bike on a dangerous section of the highway when a large Dodge truck with extended mirrors came up behind him and the mirror of the truck hit the back of his head at 100 km/hr. The helmet basically did nothing. He actually died 4 times but the medics revived him. The accident left him in a wheel chair and practically a vegetable. I really hate to say this but he might have been better off not making it.
The second time was in the 90's and I was at a indoor BMX competition. There was this kid who was jumping higher and higher trying to touch the ceiling when he suddenly missed the landing and hit his head right on the edge of the jump as he came down. The helmet didn't stop the edge of the ledge from splitting his skull open and he actually died!
Neither of the examples above have much bearing on how safe a helmet really is since they represent extreme examples at the far end of the universe of bike accidents and neither of them involved a rider's head hitting the road surface, which is what a helmet is designed to be protective of.
Originally Posted by
cbrstar
What bugs me about bicycle helmets there doesn't seem to be any safety rating like motorcycle helmets. When I go to buy a new motocycle helmet I look for the Snell rating so I know what I'm buying. With bicycle helmets your taking their word and your life in your hands.
What? You need to get your facts straight before posting:
- The CPSC standard is a legal requirement for any helmet manufactured for the US market. It was adopted by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, and is mandatory for all helmets manufactured for sale in the U.S. after 1999. It was based on the ASTM and Snell standards below. It requires dropping the helmet 2 meters in the flat anvil test.
- ASTM is the American Society for Testing and Materials, a standards setting organization. An ASTM sticker indicates an adequate helmet too. Some are certified by the Safety Equipment Institute, an independent non-profit, others only by the manufacturer. To meet ASTM a bicycle helmet also has to perform in a 2 meter drop on the flat anvil.
- The Snell Memorial Foundation sets a somewhat higher B-95 standard with a 2.2 meter drop, but most helmets with a Snell sticker meet only their earlier B-90 standard, with a 2 meter drop comparable to ASTM. Snell tests helmets independently to certify them and retests samples bought in stores.
- The old ANSI standard died some years back. It was too easy to meet. ANSI has replaced it by adopting the ASTM standard.
In addition to these older standards, the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in collaboration with the
Virginia Tech Helmet Lab recently released a helmet rating system.