Coroner seeks bike helmets redesign

[cfsmtb]

This tragic story unfortunately is going to have major implications, but how the hell are Australian helmet manufacturers/bicycle industry going to manage it ?!??

Earlier story - Paramedic froze: inquest
<http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/28/1083103547982.html>

<http://tinyurl.com/3argl>
A paramedic froze when she saw the prone body of a toddler strangled by a bicycle helmet strap after he fell from a bunk bed, an inquest was told.

Has lead to this,

Coroner seeks bike helmets redesign
<http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9499270%5E2862,00.html>

<http://tinyurl.com/2l8pl>
A CORONER has recommended changes to bike helmet design to prevent an accident that killed a toddler. Oscar Bradford, 2, was strangled when his bike helmet became caught after he fell off a bunk bed at his grandparents' Cowes beach house on February 9 last year.

 

[Spider1977]

Originally posted by cfsmtb
This tragic story unfortunately is going to have major implications, but how the hell are Australian helmet manufacturers/bicycle industry going to manage it ?!??

I wouldn't think it would be to hard to have a quick release mechanism for the chin strap connector. After all it doesn't have to carry much weight or resist much force to stay on.

These connectors are also used on all sorts of backpacks, belts etc., where they do have to take a fair bit of pressure - there may be a problem in altering those.

 

[Graeme]

Spider1977 <[email protected]> wrote in news:q2knc.4257
[email protected]:

> I wouldn't think it would be to hard to have a quick
> release mechanism for the chin strap connector. After all
> it doesn't have to carry much weight or resist much force
> to stay on.
>

A lot of the protection a helmet provides is preventing
grazes/abrasions as you skid/tumble along the ground. Indeed
some people consider this as about the only protection they
really do provide once you get above about 20km/h. There
would be a fair amount of force on the straps in this
situation [1] and a quick release would negate this. Maybe
if it was an option on kiddies' helmets only?

There have been several recorded instances of kids being
strangled/hung by helmet straps from bunk beds or climbing
frames. One of the Scandinavian countries even produced
research which showed that there had been more such deaths
than there were lives saved by the introduction of
compulsory helmet laws.

Graeme

[1] I've seen a couple of tumbles at high speed where the
helmet strap leaves a very visible mark under the chin
which seems to indicate this.

 

[Terry Collins]

Graeme wrote:

...snip....

> There would be a fair amount of force on the straps in
> this situation [1] and a quick release would negate this.
> Maybe if it was an option on kiddies' helmets only?

All the bicycle helmets that I see around here have the
quick release. I think my wife and I are the only two with
double rings type.

If a quick release (plastic squeeze) buckle releases
under pressure then it is faulty. I had a tool belt like
that once. I replaced the buckle with a new one ($2
Clark Rubber).

 

[Graeme]

Terry Collins <[email protected]> wrote in news:409DF979.F110A713
@woa.com.au:

> All the bicycle helmets that I see around here have the
> quick release. I think my wife and I are the only two with
> double rings type.
>

The "quick release" we were referring to wasn't the
normal type of buckle, so perhaps our phrasing was poor.
It would be more of a "release if exposed to forces
greater than X Newtons" but that doesn't roll off the
tongue quite so easily.

Graeme

 

[Ian Wright]

Originally posted by cfsmtb
This tragic story unfortunately is going to have major implications, but how the hell are Australian helmet manufacturers/bicycle industry going to manage it ?!??

Earlier story - Paramedic froze: inquest
<http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/28/1083103547982.html>

<http://tinyurl.com/3argl>
A paramedic froze when she saw the prone body of a toddler strangled by a bicycle helmet strap after he fell from a bunk bed, an inquest was told.

Has lead to this,

Coroner seeks bike helmets redesign
<http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9499270%5E2862,00.html>

<http://tinyurl.com/2l8pl>
A CORONER has recommended changes to bike helmet design to prevent an accident that killed a toddler. Oscar Bradford, 2, was strangled when his bike helmet became caught after he fell off a bunk bed at his grandparents' Cowes beach house on February 9 last year. [/QUOTE

Age 2, initially I might expect a warning notice of the associated risks to children on the inside of the lid. As for varying the release I suspect the coroner has limited experience with overall safety considerations when it comes to two wheels, there ain't many two y/o's out there hitting the roads.
IW

 

[Plodder]

<Snip>
> <http://tinyurl.com/2l8pl> A CORONER has recommended
> changes to bike helmet design to prevent an accident that
> killed a toddler. Oscar Bradford, 2, was strangled when
> his bike helmet became caught after he fell off a bunk
> bed at his grandparents' Cowes beach house on February 9
> last year.

Wouldn't it be more effective to either recommend changes to
the design of bunk beds (after all, it's not only helmets
that can get caught) or educate people that helmets are for
riding, not for climbing bunk beds. It seems rather silly to
redesign something that wasn't being used for the purpose
for which it was intended...

Frank

 

[Terry Collins]

Graeme wrote:

...snip.....

> The "quick release" we were referring to wasn't the
> normal type of buckle, so perhaps our phrasing was poor.
> It would be more of a "release if exposed to forces
> greater than X Newtons" but that doesn't roll off the
> tongue quite so easily.

Basically unworkable. Helmets would have to be sold by size
and weight of wearer.

Since this specifically about children, I will point out
that generally a pre-schooler weighs very little. I don't
notice their weight in my bob trailer, but after they start
school, they have a growth spurt and start to gain weight.

also, it is beyound the capacity of most (alomost all)
parents to properly adjust childrens helmets.

 

[Graeme]

Terry Collins <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Basically unworkable.

I totally agree.

> Since this specifically about children, I will point out
> that generally a pre-schooler weighs very little. I don't
> notice their weight in my bob trailer

I can't wait to get our little one into a trailer (he's 5
months at the moment). I'm suffering serious cycling
withdrawal just now.

> also, it is beyound the capacity of most (alomost all)
> parents to properly adjust childrens helmets.

Again, I totally agree. This is why I feel that compulsory
helmet laws (particularly those aimed at children like the
one recently rejected in the UK) are counter-productive for
the general population. I'd rather my child felt unprotected
rather than give him a false sense of security and increase
his likelihood of doing something that would increase his
injury risk.

Given the helmet laws as they stand though, my son will wear
a helmet but will have it drummed into him that it is not
the shield of indestructibility that many people seem to
think it is.

Graeme

 

[Graeme]

"Plodder" <CORNED BEEF@NOSPAM> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Wouldn't it be more effective to either recommend changes
> to the design of bunk beds

Or make everyone sleep on the floor? Accidents happen. They
can be as terrible as this one and deeply affect all
involved. Such accidents are often followed by a bout of
shroud waving "Someone's died. The government must do
something about it!"

However you cannot design *all* risks out of everything.
Yes, the obvious ones can be eradicated (like lead paint in
kids toys) but there's always something either very obscure
or with vanishingly small probabilities of causing harm that
can kill. Just look at the Darwin Awards for examples of how
people can use everyday objects to kill themselves in highly
unpredictable ways (not that such stupidity is usually the
cause of accidental deaths).

In this particualr case it would be much better if the
general perception that cycle helmets are useful in non-
cycling activities could be broken. As was shown here,
they can kill.

Graeme

 

[Stu]

> One of the Scandinavian countries even produced research
> which showed that there had been more such deaths than
> there were lives saved by the introduction of compulsory
> helmet laws.
you wouldnt have a link handy about for this would you
Graeme? I'II have a goggle myself, but dont hold out much
hope of finding it, so if you could point me straight there
it would be great . thanks stuart

 

[Graeme]

"stu" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> you wouldnt have a link handy about for this would you
> Graeme? I'II have a goggle myself, but dont hold out much
> hope of finding it, so if you could point me straight
> there it would be great . thanks stuart

Stuart, I had a quick look before I posted so I could
include a link but could not find it either. It was a year
or three since I originally read
it. However if you have a look here
http://www.lesberries.co.uk/cycling/helmets/other.html
or here http://www.magma.ca/~ocbc/

Then there are general references to the statistics, e.g. 6
kids were killed in this kind of accident in Sweden (but
there is no reference to the time scale). There is also a
lot of decent information at www.helmets.org

Graeme

 

[Stu]

thanks heaps Graeme stuart

 

[Resound]

Originally posted by cfsmtb
This tragic story unfortunately is going to have major implications, but how the hell are Australian helmet manufacturers/bicycle industry going to manage it ?!??

Earlier story - Paramedic froze: inquest
<http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/28/1083103547982.html>

<http://tinyurl.com/3argl>
A paramedic froze when she saw the prone body of a toddler strangled by a bicycle helmet strap after he fell from a bunk bed, an inquest was told.

Has lead to this,

Coroner seeks bike helmets redesign
<http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9499270%5E2862,00.html>

<http://tinyurl.com/2l8pl>
A CORONER has recommended changes to bike helmet design to prevent an accident that killed a toddler. Oscar Bradford, 2, was strangled when his bike helmet became caught after he fell off a bunk bed at his grandparents' Cowes beach house on February 9 last year.

I'm sorry if this sounds callous, but why on earth was a child wearing a helmet in bed? If a child drowned in a backyard swimming pool because they had difficulty swimming whilst wearing gumboots and a heavy coat, should that prompt a redesign of boots and coats? If his grandparents were that worried about him falling out of the bunkbed, he shouldn't have been sleeping in it.