ricecrispies

I've got an LED light with a headband. It will fit on my bike helmet, with the headband wrapping round the front and sides of the helmet, but will this make the helmet less effective in preventing or reducing head injuries? Since this is a safety issue I am looking for links to authoritative sources to answer this question.

mack_turtle

I can't imagine why it would affect how well the helmet protects your skull. if it makes drivers more likely to see you, that's useful.

BobbyG

On the one hand it may be dangerous if you hit your head on the ground at precisely the right angle (although if you think of the elastic band as a "break-away" mount, it seems like even less potential danger in a crash).

On the other hand, the light increases your visibility to other vehicles, especially since it's a high mounted light that you can swivel and point at drivers approaching from the sides.

I've worn a helmet mounted light after dark for years, but started wearing a flashing helmet light during the day on my commute last year and it has definitely made a difference in reducing harrowing interactions with inattentive drivers.

When weighing the pros and cons I say overall wearing a headlight on a headband around your helmet is safer than not doing so...especially if you ride in traffic.

mack_turtle

how heavy is that light and what kind of batteries are in it? if that's what I think it is, a headlamp that takes 3x AAA batteries or AA cells is usually not very bright and the battery life sucks compared to a smaller, lighter unit that has a built in li-ion cell. the better alternatives are not expensive either. There are also bike-specific lights that probably cost the same as that one but work much better and are more easily mounted to the helmet. if that's what you've got and it's working, no need for something different, but if you want something that really works better and you have a few bucks to spare, there are far superior alternatives on the market.

does the elastic strap really make the light stay put? I would think the smooth exterior of the helmet would allow it to slip when jostled.

sloppy12

100% liability wise I cant imagine any helmet manufacture would say that it is OK to do. the exception would be if they make the light. they don't test a helmet with a light mounted to it. if you land perfect on that light it for sure will add to the force applied to that one spot on the helmet.

with that said I do it. better to have the light, odds are strong the light will just push away from impact its not like the straps force the light to stay in that one spot.

This is more of a liability question than a safety one. IMO

CliffordK

Trek/Bontrager makes what they call the "Blendr" accessory mount for some helmets.



But, I have never gotten a clear answer at how these accessories are actually tested. For example on the Bontrager helmet, would it take a direct impact with the accessory installed? Would it drive the accessory into your skull?

I've got a Lumos (V2) helmet on order with built in lights, whenever they get around to shipping it. Again, no clear indication that they chose the worst possible case for testing the helmets.



For the OP, if you do choose to use a light, I'd worry that your mount could roll the accessory down onto your face, which wouldn't be my choice. You can also mount the light using the top of the helmet vent holes. Hopefully it would still tear away in an accident, and would be less likely to end up in your face.

MinnMan

In the event of a direct hit, it could focus energy to a small surface area of the helmet, thereby increasing the force propagated to the head.

Hypno Toad

I know many riders that will use a camping headlamp on a strap for night riding. OTOH - I like my "see the road light" on the bike and the "be seen light" on my helmet. In the pic below, I've got an older Knog Binder light mounted through the vent in my POC helmet. This configuration is not going to compromise the helmets effectiveness and allows me to point the light while riding.

FYI - this set up in the pic was to read cue sheets in the dark during The DAMn.

10 Wheels

Had mine on the Non Crash Side,

GamblerGORD53

I don't care what others say. IMO, it is 100% STUPID and dangerous. You think blinding drivers is a good idea?? NONSENSE.
The purpose of the light is to see the road and allow driver to TRACK your bike. In near total darkness, there is ZERO chance of this happening with only a headlight. You need to look around in every direction. Having the light zooming around like a disco ball is GOOFY. With the light up high there is NO way to properly focus down a highway either.
The light belongs on the FORK. So it points the way the wheel is going. Mine then twinkles on the spokes for a FAR better side presence.

Leisesturm

Your emphasis notwitstanding, you are WRONG! A helmet mounted headlight is an excellent idea for a cyclist who, more than most other road users, can benefit greatly from being able to see through a corner what is coming! The fork or bar mounted headlight doesn't light up what is around the corner till it is turned. Sometimes that is TOO LATE. And a helmet mounted headlight can, with the flick of your neck, throw the light far down the road, or right at your feet as you need. I avoid blinding drivers by looking away from oncoming traffic when stopped. When riding normally, oncoming traffic isn't anymore affected by my light being up high than anywhere else. Lot's of lifted pickups around here. I'm betting their 6,000 lumen HID LOW BEAMS are more of a pain in the eyballs to oncoming traffic than my MagicShine 808 (800L claimed ~500L actual) is ever going to be. FWIW. I also suspect that a set of proper spoke lights and/or the amber colored flashing or steady side marker lights being sold are better for being seen from the side than a fork mounted headlight.

mack_turtle

yes, having a helmet-mounted light is great for both seeing where you're going, and being seen. the helmet light is higher and more mobile, so it's much more effective than a handlebar light alone. however, on the road, it's a good idea to have a light that's easy to "direct." of COURSE, it's a bad idea to "blind drivers" with a super bright light right in their face, which is why no one would recommend doing that. nothing in this thread implies that's a good idea. (who said that blasting drivers in the eyeballs so they can't see anything is a good idea?) but a moderate light that can be pointed in the direction of a driver to get their attention is a good idea. just be considerate when doing so.

regarding the specific question in this thread though, it's unlikely that the light will hurt you any more than the impact will hurt you otherwise. if that's your concern, there are dozens of other ways to get maimed on a bike and fixating on that very specific one is not helpful.

CliffordK

Hopefully a helmet light is focused where you are looking. I used one for a while, and would also turn my head & light towards cross traffic that had a stop/yield/light, giving better light than would otherwise be seen from the side of my bike.

Choose light power and focus for your needs.

Moving light is likely better than stationary light.

Riveting

I have a typical USB rechargeable mounted to the top of the helm though the vent holes, with the rubber band style bar-mount it came with, so it should bend over or break off pretty easily. But until I read this thread, I never considered the concentrated energy impact if the light were to hit first, bt the impact would need to occur on the very top of the helm, directly onto the top of the light to do this, without the light breaking off, which is probably very rare, but not impossible in a ragdoll over-the-bars scenario, been there done that. All of the 3 dents/scuffs in my helms, from various crashes, some minor, some concussion causing, were in the "headband" zone above the ears or on the forehead area.

MinnMan

Whether it's a large risk as compared to others is a good point of discussion. As I and others have pointed out, the risk is for a direct hit, which is probably fairly unlikely. But in your first post you wrote

So that's some progress and expanded perspective, right? Initially, "can't imagine" to now "(can imagine, but) unlikely"

MinnMan

I agree with those who argue that the added risk of injury is likely small, but just as a general point of discussion, the idea behind modern bike helmets is not that they are simply padding, but rather they are designed to distribute the shock of impact in such a way as to minimize the local acceleration forces imparted to the head. Though the risk is maybe not so great, there's every reason to think that attaching something hard and high density to the helmet would interfere with the behavior expected during its design.

billridesbikes

I don’t like anything on my helmet. I have visions of a light or camera getting caught in part the pavement during a fall and causing a broken neck or a screw or battery getting embedded in my brain during a serious crash. Maybe thats unfounded, but I prefer to use my brain bucket unaltered.

alo

If I did most of my riding at night, I may use a helmet light. They are good in that you can see anywhere you turn. But I do most of my riding during the day. So I use lights on my bike, and don't need extra weight on my head, with lights I don't use that often.

79pmooney

No. If you crash and hit it on the road, it will die, almost for sure. If you want your light to be safe, it needs to be inside your helmet, not outside.

Seriously - the odds to the light doing you additional damage in a crash is small. Having the light positioned so you see what is important and therefore don't crash is huge.

mdarnton

I commuted in pitch black for a while. I started with a handlebar mounted light, then switched to helmet. Huge difference, to be able to aim near and far, around corners, or into the face of people coming up on side streets. The other day I was riding in city traffic, and saw someone in traffic with a helmet mounted rear light two blocks ahead! Coming towards me was someone with a bar-mounted headlight, and I saw him a couple of hundred feet ahead, at the most, and might just as easily missed him. When I'm driving I also appreciate seeing that headlight bobbing up and down over the tops of cars parked to my left rather than not seeing the guy with light on his bars.

I've wondered the same thing, about getting a light driven straight into my skull in a wreck, but decided based on what I see in traffic that I have a much better chance of not being in a wreck at all if I wear the lights up high, so that's what I do.

CliffordK

I've had animals shadow me in the pitch black. A bit of an eerie feeling.

If only I had a light that when I turned to look, I could actually see what it was.

mack_turtle

I've read reports of owls following riders in the dark. you're essentially helping them hunt, and they chase down any small critters that your bike scared out of hiding.

GamblerGORD53

Here is my fork light. This was 40 miles south of Thanh Hoa, riding first of 3 days to Hanoi with my birthday flowers courtesy of the Muong Thanh deluxe hotel chain. The wind didn't ruffle the flowers at all. LOL. This bag was there all the way up Vietnam. The fork was broken 3 times near the top LS.

I went 30 years with only a boat anchor bottle generator that went years without being used. A couple years all I had was a cheap 3 LED crank flashlight for emergency and getting off the highway too late. I did that one ride, LOL. The power lasted maybe 4 minutes. I took it on this trip also for fixing the bike after dark. Now my phone does this. I have zero use for battery crap on a bicycle anyway.
So only since 2012 I've had my awesome SA XL-FDD. 5 years ago I spent the 5 month winter riding from Saigon up to Dafang China, then bus ride and 2 months in Chengdu. So it was dark after 6:30 and there were maybe 6 days I wasn't riding in the dark. 4,187 miles, half city I guess.

My Edelux was on my right fork. I had ZERO problems seeing or being seen. I tilted it down a bit in cities and back up on highways. The people on the sidewalk were often making fun of my light in DAYTIME. LOL. Lots of times it's about the stay on when stopped feature. Several times I was out late on highways and going over mountain passes. In one very curvy spot on top of a mountain, a 40' truck had to cut off the corner and I was totally blinded for a few secs. I wandered into the steep cement ditch/ gutter. I didn't fall or hurt the bike. It was tough lifting the 120 lbs up in the dark moonlight. Truckers were leaning out the window and waving many times. They are NOT thoughtless goons.
There were many miles going thru road construction, some at night too. They patiently waited if necessary.
BTW ... I never wear a STUPID Hellmet anyway. LOL

Kat12

Maybe you don't want to see what it is... *ominous music*

(Actually, wouldn't that be a great scene in a horror movie?)

CliffordK

Horror movie is fine, but not when you're alone in the middle of farmlands and hear a rustling that could be a silent dog, or deer that is right next to oneself, and it tends to continue. I suppose we also have our "American Lions" too. I don't know if they would be hunting that far into the valley, but it is possible.

I also had one where I passed a campsite a little after dusk. Then heard the pitter-patter, then quiet pant of a dog coming up behind me. I gave out my usual dog "GO HOME" Roar (never heard any reaction from the campsite), but that was just before plunging down a hill past a dam. I always wondered if I should have just let the thing chase me down the hill into obscurity.