Originally Posted by
Wogster
Second of all, if a helmet cracks or breaks, that helmet failed to do it's job.
Nah. Not sure why this comment keeps popping up. It didn't "fail to do it's job". It did its job. The impact just exceeded its design parameters. Unless you think they are designed to provide 100% structural integrity in which case you'd be wrong again.
Styrofoam is there to provide a compressible medium. The plastic is there to help provide abrasion and UV protection and to provide some structural support to the foam. If a helmet cracks it's provided all the cushioning it's designed for and has then come apart because the blow has exceeded it's design capacity. But it HAS provided all the cushioning it's designed for to 100%. It didn't just fall apart from the wind.
It's a lot like auto safety glass, which cracks but stays intact unless the forces overwhelm it and it busts into 1000 pieces.
Only difference between a bicycle helmet and motor cycle helmet BTW is that motorcycle helmets have a lot more foam and a much harder and thicker shell (carbon or fiberglass). Having crashed both, in many cases the blow you receive is identical. People still die of head injuries in motorcycle accidents. Did the helmet fail to do it's job in these cases? Unless you believe a helmet should provide 100% protection from all head injuries, which is tin hat stuff, you'd have to say no.
It's not a terrible leap of reasoning to believe that a bike helmet, in most cases, is better than nothing and provides some mitigation. How much? Depends.
I can raise my hand and say I've hit my head on the pavement without a helmet and with a helmet in nearly identical type crashes. Both produced minor concussions, one produced a giant knot and numerous stitches.
Guess which was which.
Statistical analysis is junk science to apply to this case study. The data is so scattered, diverse, and tiny it's worthless. And any statistician will tell you just because they haven't found a trend, doesn't mean one doesn't exist.
At best we can do the impact modeling and actual testing and come up with X helmet will provide Y impact force reduction in Z scenario.
And FWIW I think if you legislate helmets for motorcycle riders you should make the people in cars wear them too. Brain injuries are the number one killer in car accidents, if you believe the statistics
