vaticdart

A friend of mine had a pretty good crash going down a hill a couple of weeks ago. She got some good road rash, gashed her elbow open, but I think this photo testifies to the reason she's still alive.



The Flickr link to the photo.

The had a CAT scan done and, apparently, her noggin is fine.

Anyone else have any photos of helmets that have given their lives to save the cyclists they alighted on?

Mods, I just realized this would probably be better in the "Advocacy and Safety" forum. Please feel free to move it and delete this note.

Abneycat

This will get a lot of people riled up at A&S, the helmet/anti-helmet fanatics will crawl out of the woodwork

Good that your friend was helped by the helmet, and that she's okay!
That helmet looks brutalized.

vaticdart

I think that's unavoidable .

I respect people's choices, ride with people who don't wear helmets, never lecture, but I think these forums could use a thread of helmet photos like this.

My gf's old helmet is nowhere near as spectacular from her more minor crash (it just got cracked), but is now hanging in our LBS to quietly nudge those on the fence. That's pretty much all I'm trying to do.

Cosmoline

Her lip got torn open?

JanMM

Right. That's an external fixation device.

Bdaisies

That looks painful. I'm glad she's alright. How did she fall to get that kind of crazy damage?

operator

fake

vaticdart

Figured that might come along...

I can't prove it of course, and she was unconscious so who knows, maybe the EMTs or the guy she was on the ride with decided to mash up her helmet for laughs. Har har. And maybe someone I've known for years decided to lie to me. Or maybe a meteorite hit her helmet after she fell. Anything is possible, so let's just reject this as useless.

It's a testament to the degree of the damage that this accusation came up this quickly.

That's why I'm curious to see other people's helmet damage photos. I couldn't find anything else out there close to this.

JanMM

The other photos at the Flickr site show non-fake injuries.

twahl

I think she could have used some of those fancy staples on her elbow, too.

vaticdart

Just going down a hill and lost control. She may have taken her hands off the handlebars... but her memory is still pretty fuzzy.

I'm kind of amazed she didn't sustain head trauma, but the CAT scan said she's clear.

msincredible

We had one trashed in last weekend's BF NorCal ride.

geo8rge

Fake - FWIW styrofoam helmets deintegrate on impact, the plastic wrap cover is all that keeps the pieces on your head. It takes very little to start the desintegration of the styrofoam. I am glad she's still pretty.

IronMac

I'm a HUGE believer in wearing helmets after two crashes where I was saved from injury by my helmet but that damaged helmet looks like it's not quite true.

Dahon.Steve

She must have flipped and landed straight on top of her head. It also looks like the type of accident that happens when one crashes into a car door with the top of your head. Incredible.

closetbiker

I rode and crashed often for 20 years before I put a helmet on. Since I have been wearing one for the last 20 years, I've had far fewer crashes but neither of my helmets have a scratch on them. Go figure. I figure people go looking for things.

maddyfish

How do broken helmets relate to saving someones life? I can crush a styrofoam helmet with my hands, but I can't crush a human head with my hands.

spinnaker

I would throw that helmet out if I were you and don't try wearing it again. Buy a new one.

closetbiker

exactly.

from here, https://www.cyclehelmets.org/papers/c2023.pdf, In the words of Brian Walker, one of the leading experts on the mechanics of helmets, and whose company Head Protection Evaluations is the principal UK test laboratory for helmets and head protection systems of all kinds,

"The fact is, cycle helmets are the most fragile type of safety helmet. In todays road traffic accidents, it's not unlikely for a helmet to be subjected to severity loads greater than it is designed to cope with."

Allen

You might want to check the Flicker account with the images from the hospital.