ON THE USE OF THE HEAD INJURY CRITERION (HIC) IN PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR EVALUATION

The validity and appropriateness of the application of the Head Injury Criterion (HIC sub m) concept to motorcycle helmet testing has been examined. Its derivation has been reviewed and its logic assessed. It is shown to be an inconsistent and unreliable criterion for helmet performance evaluation. This inconsistency stems primarily from its poor correlation with experimental data and from the basic assumption that the seriousness of a head impact can be ascertained by considering only a portion of the test headform acceleration pulse. Several alternative criteria which all are physically sound and mathematically consistent and which are more amenable to protective headgear design and testing are proposed. These criteria include force and loading time minimization; load distribution; minimization of loading rate and maximization of energy dissipation.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Proceedings of the 19th Stapp Car Crash Conference. Sponsored by Bell Helmets, Incorporated.
• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)

  400 Commonwealth Drive
  Warrendale, PA  United States  15096
• Authors:
  • NEWMAN, J A
• Conference:
  • Stapp Car Crash Conference Proceedings
• Publication Date: 1975

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 26 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Dissipation; Evaluation; Head; Helmets; Injuries; Load transfer; Loading and unloading; Loads; Motorcycles
• Uncontrolled Terms: Loading rate
• Old TRIS Terms: Loading time
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00132037
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Report/Paper Numbers: SAE #751162
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 5 1977 12:00AM