Originally Posted by
Dan The Man
But what would be the actual result for a helmet that didn't work? Suppose it was as brittle as crystal and exploded at a very tiny contact, or it was made of cardboard and simply got torn up without offering any protection.
Either way you are left with a damaged helmet and a beat up rider that survived the accident, which is the same result you get with a helmet that does work. (Obviously if you didn't survive the accident you aren't around to post about it). If the rider doesn't sustain head injuries, then that can be attributed to the damaged helmet. If the rider does sustain some head injuries, then their mitigation can be attributed to the helmet with the alternative surely being death.
So my point is that posting about a helmet that worked in an accident is kind of redundant, because it is the only possible result, which is great because it means that helmets will always work.
If the helmet didnt work, you would have brain injury or death. The job of a helmet is to absorb energy. I know you cant say for sure that a bike helmet saved someone. I do think its pretty safe to assume that a bike helmet will absorb some of the impact. Does it absorb enough to save you from a brain injury every time? I doubt it, but I think its fairly safe to assume that if something absorbs impact that there is a certain range of impact where a helmet could make a difference. We can look at studies all day, but if you knew your head was about to hit the pavement and you had the option to put on a bike helmet, wouldnt you do it? Or would you say, "studies haven't shown conclusively any benefit to a helmet, I'll just hit it with my bare head and take my chances".