Re: ridecamp-d Digest V00 #205

[MBlanchrd@aol.com]

In a message dated 02/07/2000 7:55:56 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
ridecamp-d-request@endurance.net writes:

<< , it still isn't much of a visor as far as size...I don't
 think I would like much to be sticking out in front when my head hits the
 ground from the front tho'...Seems *that* would be cause for some serious
 neck injuries...  wouldn't you think?   I just assumed that's why the visors
 are so short.  :)  The less obstructions sticking out the better. <g> >>

Several years ago a study was done on the injuries and deaths caused by 
helmets  in motorcycle accidents. It was found that the full face type 
helmets..(where the plastic goes completely around one's head, with a clear 
face plate that flips up and out) caused far more neck injuries and deaths 
than if the person had not been wearing a helmet at all. 
Now, granted, the parameters of the study were quite narrow. It assumed that 
the person was ejected from the bike headfirst (more common from motorcycles 
than from horseback, because a motorcycle is far more likely to collide with 
something (like another vehicle or something stationary.) and that the rider 
landed on a hard surface, such as concrete, blacktop or gravel in an urban 
environment.

The helmet, in this type of fall, did NOT protect the person's head, in fact, 
it acted as a brake, so to speak, the lower part of the full face helmet 
often catching on something on the ground, like a curb, or a signpost, or 
even the bike itself.. The leverage of the snagged helmet suddenly snapping 
forward was enough to snap necks or worse, only partially snap them, leaving 
the unfortunate rider paralyzed.

They also found that full face helmets were more restrictive in the 
motorcyclists ability to rotate and move his or her head, and were more apt 
to fog up in cold weather, or from the wearer's breath thereby clouding the 
wearer's vision.
Finally (and this was from personal experience)...they would catch bugs. I 
remember one time, having my visor on my full face helmet partially opened in 
order to unfog it, and a very angry wasp joined me . She was blown by the 
wind right into my helmet, banged off my chin right below my lower lip, and 
landed on the lower rim of the helmet.There she was, walking along the lower 
rim of the helmet, not an inch from my lips, nose, eyes..........it scared 
me, let me tell you, and certainly distracted me from my controlling the 
motorcycle!

So..all in all......we ditched the full face helmets. I too, despised wearing 
them, (even though my Troxel is far lighter and cooler to wear than any 
motorcycle helmet)and do to this day..but I wear them anyway, because I've 
become awfully fond of my head in one piece.

Michelle
MBlanchrd@aol.com