Helmet Straps: Some kind of release mechanism?

[(PeteCresswell)]

Has anybody besides me wondered what would happen if their helmet got snagged on
some brush or something?

I usually wear a helmet - since my own little attitude-adjusting experience some
years ago - but I've always wondered why the head/neck straps on a helmet don't
release under pressure.

Three anecdotes:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Before face-guard grabbing was ruled illegal, I recall reading about a
number of spinal cord injuries to high-school football players.

2) When windsurfing a couple years back, I went down at somewhere around
20-25 mph. Bounced.. and them my helmet caught in the water. I could
feel it grab. Messed up my neck for several weeks. If the helmet were
just torn loose I don't think my neck would have been torqued like it was.

3) I recently had the misfortune to review an accident report and accompanying
photographs of someone who managed to do themselves in on a motorcycle
- losing it on a curve at over 110 mph.

He was decapitated, but it was pretty clear from the photos that the head
was torn off and not severed. All the vertebrae were still with the body
and the face was untouched - in fact, eyeglasses were still in place.

But his brain matter was on the road about halfway between the body and
the head - apparently torn from the cranium as the head came off but
the spinal cord was still connected.

I wouldn't go so far as to suggest this person would have survived if the
helmet had been allowed to be pulled off the head, but it seems to support
the notion that there is an issue with helmets being attached so securely.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Putting some kind of pressure release inline with the strap seems like a fairly
simple/cheap thing to do. Or am I missing something?

--
PeteCresswell

 

[Phil, Squid-in-Training]

(PeteCresswell) wrote:
> Has anybody besides me wondered what would happen if their helmet got
> snagged on some brush or something?
>
> I usually wear a helmet - since my own little attitude-adjusting
> experience some years ago - but I've always wondered why the
> head/neck straps on a helmet don't release under pressure.
>
> Three anecdotes:
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 1) Before face-guard grabbing was ruled illegal, I recall reading
> about a number of spinal cord injuries to high-school football
> players.
>
> 2) When windsurfing a couple years back, I went down at somewhere
> around 20-25 mph. Bounced.. and them my helmet caught in the
> water. I could feel it grab. Messed up my neck for several weeks.
> If the helmet were just torn loose I don't think my neck would have
> been torqued like it was.
>
> 3) I recently had the misfortune to review an accident report and
> accompanying photographs of someone who managed to do themselves in
> on a motorcycle - losing it on a curve at over 110 mph.
>
> He was decapitated, but it was pretty clear from the photos that
> the head was torn off and not severed. All the vertebrae were
> still with the body and the face was untouched - in fact,
> eyeglasses were still in place.
>
> But his brain matter was on the road about halfway between the body
> and the head - apparently torn from the cranium as the head came
> off but the spinal cord was still connected.
>
> I wouldn't go so far as to suggest this person would have survived
> if the helmet had been allowed to be pulled off the head, but it
> seems to support the notion that there is an issue with helmets
> being attached so securely.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Putting some kind of pressure release inline with the strap seems
> like a fairly simple/cheap thing to do. Or am I missing something?

My first impression is to say, "What happens to the person after the helmet
comes off? Does the world get really fluffy and smushy?"

In all seriousness, people are going to claim the the lives saved outweigh
the lives taken. They'll say seatbelts save more people from going through
windshields than people who are trapped in their vehicles because their
seatbelt cannot be unlatched. I? I'm pretty neutral about it all. But I
wear my helmet and buckle my seatbelt.
--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[[email protected]]

Why don't you just pull off your lid before you crash. Stupid.

 

[Shaun aRe]

"(PeteCresswell)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Has anybody besides me wondered what would happen if their helmet got
> snagged on
> some brush or something?
>
> I usually wear a helmet - since my own little attitude-adjusting
> experience some
> years ago - but I've always wondered why the head/neck straps on a helmet
> don't
> release under pressure.
>
> Three anecdotes:
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 1) Before face-guard grabbing was ruled illegal, I recall reading about a
> number of spinal cord injuries to high-school football players.
>
> 2) When windsurfing a couple years back, I went down at somewhere around
> 20-25 mph. Bounced.. and them my helmet caught in the water. I could
> feel it grab. Messed up my neck for several weeks. If the helmet were
> just torn loose I don't think my neck would have been torqued like it
> was.
>
> 3) I recently had the misfortune to review an accident report and
> accompanying
> photographs of someone who managed to do themselves in on a motorcycle
> - losing it on a curve at over 110 mph.
>
> He was decapitated, but it was pretty clear from the photos that the
> head
> was torn off and not severed. All the vertebrae were still with the
> body
> and the face was untouched - in fact, eyeglasses were still in place.
>
> But his brain matter was on the road about halfway between the body and
> the head - apparently torn from the cranium as the head came off but
> the spinal cord was still connected.
>
> I wouldn't go so far as to suggest this person would have survived if
> the
> helmet had been allowed to be pulled off the head, but it seems to
> support
> the notion that there is an issue with helmets being attached so
> securely.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Putting some kind of pressure release inline with the strap seems like a
> fairly
> simple/cheap thing to do. Or am I missing something?

Just took a look at my helmet - fastens with the plastic clips, like the
ones on back packs etc. - while these ones seem to lock together much more
firmly than many back pack ones, I can't see them having more structural
integrity than my neck - surely if the forces were so great, it would just
break and release the helmet?!?


Shaun aRe

 

[Drew]

> the spinal cord was still connected.
>
> I wouldn't go so far as to suggest this person would have survived if
> the
> helmet had been allowed to be pulled off the head, but it seems to
> support
> the notion that there is an issue with helmets being attached so
> securely.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Putting some kind of pressure release inline with the strap seems like a
> fairly
> simple/cheap thing to do. Or am I missing something?
>
> --
> PeteCresswell



If it's a concern of yours, remove buckle, install velcro ( release
mechanism), and ride.

I want the helmet to stay on when my head hits a rock/branch.. or .......

Drew