And a link to Mikael Colville-Anderson at TEDx Cpoenhagen on cycling and why not to wear a helmet....
http://video.tedxcopenhagen.dk/video/911034 On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 5:30 PM, Larry D. Nelson <[email protected]> wrote: > I suspect they are looking for testers….er…dummies? > > > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Meiers, Steve > Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 3:11 PM > To: 'Aaron Crandall'; bikies > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Interesting... > > > > Lots of unanswered questions > > > > Swedish Hövding (Chieftan) Airbag > Headgear Makes its Debut > > > > ________________________________ > > Summary: Is the Swedish airbag bike headgear a reality? Can it really > protect the way a traditional helmet does? We are waiting to see test > results and answer a lot of questions. > > ________________________________ > > The Hövding web page introduces headgear that is based on the airbag > principle, with an inflating protective bonnet designed to deploy when the > rider crashes. There is a video of one test crash. > > Airbag helmets have been the subject of conversation for years, often > accompanied by satiric photos of riders with balloons on their heads. But > this one is a serious attempt to put the mechanism to work. > > The device > > The device is a project of two Swedish designers who founded the Hövding > company, and has been in design and development for five years before it was > introduced in October of 2010. The designers wanted to create a product that > would not cause "helmet hair" and would appeal to those who would not wear a > normal bike helmet. > > The airbag is nylon, and inflates with a gas generator when embedded gyros > and accelerometers tell it a crash is taking place. The gyros have to be > powered during use, so the Chieftan has a rechargeable battery. That seems > like a real drawback to us, since the user has to be aware of the battery > charge level (there are led indicators) and remember to keep it charged. > After a crash the manufacturer wants the headgear back to check its embedded > "black box" for recorded movements prior to your crash. They offer "a > discount" on the replacement. That implies that this is not a multi-use > product. > > The video shows a test dummy on a bicycle struck from behind by a car > indicated as moving at 20 kph (12 mph). The dummy is thrown backwards over > the hood and impacts its head on the flat part of the windshield. The bag > deploys prior to the impact. > > That is one specific scenario. But did the helmet perform? You can see the > helmet appear to bottom out and let the head hit the windshield anyway, and > there is no instrumentation trace visible registering how many g's the dummy > head saw. And what would happen in a simple fall? Or a collision with a tree > branch or utility pole? The mirror of a bus, or the front of a bus or truck? > And if the cyclist had not been stationary, but had been traveling at a > speed near that of the car? And what if there is another impact after the > bag begins to lose air? Nothing in the Hövding web site addresses those > questions. The greatest danger in using the device would be impacting > something with a bare head if the device did not deploy. We are not going to > be easy to convince that it will always be there. > > Can it pass standards? > > Helmet lab testing normally includes testing wet, cold and hot samples. They > are tested against rounded anvils and curbstone anvils as well as flat ones. > The test would have to be of a fully-inflated Chieftan. How well would this > device perform against a grapefruit-shaped anvil, or one that was the shape > of a curb? Would it perform after being immersed in water for four hours? > Would it pass the positional stability test once it was inflated? Would it > perform at -15 and plus 50 degrees Centigrade? (That's 5 to 122 degrees F.) > All of these questions assume testing on conventional equipment as called > out in the CPSC standard, and there are good reasons based on field > experience for each of the test parameters. > > We doubt that the Chieftan can pass CPSC, and it would have to for the US > market. The CPSC definition of a helmet is > > "Bicycle helmet means any headgear that either is marketed as, or implied > through marketing or promotion to be, a device intended to provide > protection from head injuries while riding a bicycle. (Section 1203.4.2 (b)) > > That seems to encompass the Chieftan. Hövding says they expect to introduce > the device in the European market in 2011 at more than $300 US. We don't > know if it would be required to pass the CEN helmet standard to be sold in > Europe. It might simply be certified for the CE mark. European test rigs are > very different, and we don't know if it would pass the EN 1078 standard or > not. EN 1078 defines a helmet as "an item to be worn on the head and > intended to absorb the energy of an impact, thus reducing the risk of injury > to the head." That would seem to exclude the Chieftan. Hövding must have > some idea of that, but we could not find any reference to standards on their > Web site. > > Other questions > > The Chieftan raises other questions: what about wearability? Would it be > comfortable? Sweaty in hot weather? There is a statement about not being > able to wash the collar that we do not understand. Could it interfere with > neck flexibility while riding? While crashing? Could it injure the rider's > neck as it deployed? > > It is not possible to answer questions based on the manufacturer's Web site > and video. But this may prove to be a welcome advance in head protection, > and there is no need to be too skeptical until we see more. > > Other applications > > If the device can detect all crash scenarios, the mechanism could be used to > deploy other forms of protection for other body parts. APC Helmets has an > airbag system in a motorcycle helmet, but they have fitted the airbag to > deploy under the helmet as a neck support in the event of a crash. In that > case if the airbag does not deploy you still have the protection of a > conventional helmet. Hit Air has a system with an airbag jacket that deploys > when a rider is thrown from the motorcycle and a tether is yanked. The > problem is that in certain scenarios the airbag will not open, as when the > motorcycle and rider crash together into a barrier. For equestrian use it > might not deploy if the horse rolls on the rider. > > Significance > > Perhaps the greatest significance of the Hövding announcement is that at > least somebody is trying to solve the helmet problem for those who will not > destroy their hair styles, and to address the problem encountered by shared > bike programs. Shared bike programs all over the world are in need of an > easily transportable helmet or one that can be dispensed from vending > machines at very low cost for users of shared bicycle programs who did not > think to bring a helmet or do not want to carry one. There is at least one > folding helmet from Dahon currently available in Europe, but it does not > meet US standards and is expensive. If the Hövding works, and if it does not > substitute collar destruction for hair-do destruction, it could be an > advance. > > Stay tuned, the airbag helmet is bound to be interesting! > > ________________________________ > > This page was last revised on: December 5, 2010. > > > > > > Steve Meiers > > Safety educator > > (608) 267-1102 > > Box 2986 > > Madison WI 53701 > > [email protected] > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Aaron Crandall > Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 2:54 PM > To: bikies > Subject: [Bikies] Interesting... > > > > From the Milwaukee Bike listserv: > > > > This could be the solution we’ve all been looking for > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/20/the-invisible-helmet-inve_n_781575.html > an inflatable bike helmet. > > > > Aaron > > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > -- Pointlessly blogging at www.robindavies.us Try something new every day. _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
