HEAD PROTECTION FOR CYCLISTS

A brief description is given of lightweight cycle helmets now available in South Africa, and the testing of them. Helmets can be made of a hard outer shell of an impermeable plastic such as polycarbonate or glass fibre, an inner liner of expanded polystyrene and foam rubber next to the head. The tests involve mounting the helmet on an instrumented headform, measuring the acceleration within the headform as the helmet strikes a flat anvil and a hemispheric anvil in four defined areas. The shell test requires a 2 metre drop of a 5kg headform against a flat anvil and a 1.2 metre drop against the hemisphere. Measured peak acceleration for four impacts must not exceed 300g. The author concludes that only helmets meeting this or the similar American National Standard Institute (ANS1) 2-90.4 standard should be bought.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00357391
• Corporate Authors:

  South African Road Safety Council

  NRSC Building, Beatrix Street, Private Bag 147X
  Pretoria 0001,   South Africa 
• Publication Date: 1989-9-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 28
• Serial:
  • ROBOT
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: SNELCO-PRO PUBLIC RELATIONS CONSULTANTS
  • ISSN: 0035-7391

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bicycles; Crashes; Cyclists; Design; Hazards; Helmets; Protective clothing; Risk assessment; Safety; Standards
• Uncontrolled Terms: Decreases
• ITRD Terms: 1643: Accident; 1211: Bicycle; 1687: Crash helmet; 1742: Cyclist; 9009: Decrease; 9011: Design (overall design); 9150: Risk; 1665: Safety; 187: Specification (standard)
• Subject Areas: Design; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00498481
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 30 1990 12:00AM