Latest cycle helmet is a load of…spheres
March 2, 2012
The fact that injury rates in countries where very few cyclists wear helmets are amongst the lowest in the world does not stop engineers developing ever more complex ways of protecting the head in a collision. Most designs are little more than polystyrene covered by a thin protective layer of plastic, but the latest offering uses Vaco12 technology tiny balls to better absorb the force of an impact.
Each tiny ball on the inside of the helmet’s shell has 12 contact points with its neighbouring globes. These 12 contact points pass on the energy of an impact to the next 12 balls. The weakened energy is then again passed on via another 12 contact points…and so the process continues.
To wear or not to wear, that is the question
An increasing number of British cyclists wear helmets, but counter-intuitive as it seems, head injury rates have not decreased as one might expect. Furthermore, injury rates in countries where very few cyclists wear helmets are amongst the lowest in the world. There is much speculation over why this might be, but the statistics makes a strong argument against any move to make helmet wearing mandatory until through research is undertaken.
Protect yourself, protect your bike
Every cycle insurance policy from the ETA covers against theft, vandalism and accidental damage (even at race events) and includes third party insurance, personal accident cover, bicycle breakdown cover and more.
Information correct at time of publication.