Posts Tagged motorcycle helmet

Why Should You Wear A Helmet When You Ride Your Motorcycle

As I am writing this article I am thinking of the recent accident involving the Pittsburg Steelers star quarterback, “Big Ben” Roethlisberger. If he had been wearing a helmet his injuries would not have been nearly as severe.

For most of us bikers a helmet just doesn’t fit our perception of what biking is all about, which is freedom! I mean, hey it just doesn’t look cool to be on a hog with that little sissy helmet. But, I think it looks way less cool to have your face all scarred up from sliding on it down the road!

According to statistics almost every crash where the rider wasn’t wearing a helmet resulted in a major head injury. In one study out of 900 crashes there were 980 head and neck injuries which seems to indicate that the passengers on many of these motorcycles were not wearing helmets either.

Our neighbors to the north in Canada have now made it illegal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet due to the large percentage of fatalities in accidents in which the rider was not wearing one. Of course in the United States, like many other laws it is left up to the individual states to decide the ruling. I know where I live in Florida they repealed the helmet law a few years ago and according to an EMT buddy of mine it has caused a dramatic increase in head injuries.

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Advances in Motorcycle Helmet Construction

In the postwar era, many technological advances were made in the manufacture of motorcycle helmets. Energy-absorbing foams were developed which could absorb and scatter the force of impact and lessen head trauma from crashes. Improvements were made in all four of the basic elements of the motorcycle helmet: The outer shell, interior lining, flexible foam lining and chin strap.

The most important of these components as regards safety in a crash is the foam lining inside of the helmet. Polystyrene foam (to be precise, expandable polystyrene foam or EPS) is present in a thick layer in contemporary motorcycle helmets. EPS is lightweight and can withstand compression, making it a perfect material to use for the lining of motorcycle helmets. This lining absorbs and diffuses the energy of an impact, which the skull of the rider would otherwise bear the brunt of. EPS comes in different types and is used in various thicknesses in the manufacture of motorcycle helmets. Basically, the more foam that is used, the more impact resistance the helmet possesses.

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