In case you aren’t aware, there are bike helmet air bags. Typically, they’re packed inside a pouch that you wear around your neck.The pouch has sensors on it to detect changes in orientation and acceleration that indicate a crash.
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At that point, a triggering mechanism inflates the bag, which swoops up over the back of your head to protect you.
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An early bike helmet air bag called Hovding received support from a Swedish insurance company named Folksam, which said according to their studies the airbag was by far more effective than traditional bike helmets at preventing traumatic brain injuries.
Stanford’s results support this conclusion.Researchers suspended mannequin heads containing sensory equipment upside down and then dropped them onto a hard surface.
Some mannequins were wearing dispose airbag helmets while others wore traditional bike helmets.
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According to researcher David Camarillo, the airbag version had “the potential to reduce the acceleration of impact by a factor of five.” Further, the study says that airbag helmets can achieve up to an 8-fold reduction in the risk of concussion compared to standard helmets.
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Airbags are softer and larger than normal bike helmets and can absorb energy more effectively, distributing the impact.
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In a Ted Talk in April, 2016, Camarillo said that more kids got a concussion from cycling accidents than through any other sports activity.According to the CDC, this is true -- though you have to keep in mind that more kids ride bicycles than play contact sports.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that cycling is more dangerous than full-contact football.
But Camarillo’s point was that kids do sometimes receive concussions in bike accidents and that, more importantly, traditional bike helmets don’t do a good job at preventing concussions. Camarillo said that the purpose of bike helmets is to prevent skull fractures, which isn’t the same thing as a concussion.
A concussion occurs when an accelerative force makes the brain stretch, twist or bump into the inside of the skull.It’s an internal injury that results in chemical changes in the brain and it can have serious effects.
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So a traditional helmet could protect your skull from breaking while failing to avoid a trauma.
The way we test bike helmets in the US is within the context of skull fractures.If we take concussions into consideration, airbags suddenly look much more attractive.
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But they’re tricky to test -- not only do need to prove they are better at preventing cyclists from suffering concussions. It’s still a long road ahead before we see bike helmet airbags as a legal alternative to traditional helmets.
Thanks for your time!