Bicycle Helmets Reduce Cases of Head Injury: Study

A latest Australian study has found out that bicycle helmets, which were certified to Australia's national standard, resulted in a significant lowering of head, skull and brain injury.

Researchers noticed that crashes that happened without a helmet led to head acceleration and forces that are 9.5 times more than with a helmet on, thereby increasing the risk of head, skull and brain injury.

"Our findings confirm that bicycle helmets certified to AS/NZS 2063 do indeed work as intended and are effective in reducing linear and angular head accelerations, as well as impact force," said Dr. Andrew McIntosh, lead author of the study and associate professor at the University of New South Wales. "These results directly counter unsupported claims to the contrary by some anti-helmet cycling campaigners."

To prove their finding, researchers used crash test dummies and an oblique-impact test rig to measure the impact on the human head in case of such an injury.

During the test,  a dummy head and neck was dropped from a height of up to 1.5 m and at a horizontal speed of up to 25 km/h on a moving surface, to match the real-world oblique impact. They then measured the angular and linear acceleration, impact force along with other parameters.

According to Dr. Mclntosh, during an injury, an unprotected head suffers concussion even when dropped half a meter while being stationary. With the increase of height and speed, the risk of skull and brain damage also increases.

In this study, it was found that even in serious injury, a helmeted head is protected. Even if the fall is from 1.5 m and a speed of 25 km/h, a helmet has an important protective effect.

With the new finding, researchers emphasize on the need to adjust with helmet control system to gain a benefit out of it.

The study was published in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention.