A BIOMECHANICAL STUDY OF BICYCLE HELMETS EFFECTIVENESS IN CHILDHOOD

The authors present the results of a series of impact tests on pedal c ycle helmets. 10 helmets were tested using a drop test under three dif ferent test conditions: Left frontal/temporal from 1 m, right frontal/ temporal from 1.5 m and left occipital from 1 m. Impact force and the acceleration of the headform's centre of gravity in three axes were me asured. As a result of the authors' field research on pedal cycle helm ets in Australia the 1.5 m drop height was considered to be more repre sentative of a ''real'' accident than the less severe 1 m height fall. The range of resultant maximal accelerations, 1 m drop height, was 81 g to 193 g; 1.5 m drop height 122 g to 209 g. In comparison a fall wi thout helmet from 0.5 m produced a maximal resultant acceleration of 2 82 g. Head injury criteria values were for 1 m drops between 201 and 6 30; from 1. 5 m 547 to 1 078; and without helmet from 0.5 m 906. The i ndividual helmets are compared on these figures and their merits discu ssed.