Can't one all-purpose helmet suffice?
In a word, no, say medical experts. That's because different sports subject the body to different forces from different directions -- and sport-specific helmets are designed accordingly. "If you think about riding a bicycle, people tend to fall off front first, so they are more at risk for the front of their head hitting the ground, or a wall, because they are moving forward," Gioia says. A bike helmet has frontal protection to guard against this. "But then you have kids that are on skateboards, and the more typical thing for a skateboard is the skateboard zipping out, and you fall backwards and hit the back of your head." Skateboard helmets typically cover more of the skull and the back of the neck than bike helmets.
An equestrian helmet shields the top and sides of a rider's skull from impact in case of falls or kicks from a horse; secure chin straps keep the helmet in place during trots, gallops and jumps.
Since the 1990s, helmet use has become increasingly common in all sports. Twenty-one states (including Maryland) plus the District require cyclists to wear a helmet, according to Safe Kids USA; Virginia has never passed a bike helmet law, but several Northern Virginia counties, including Fairfax, Arlington and Prince William, require their use by children younger than 15, according to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute. At least six states plus the District also require children to wear helmets while using scooters, skates and skateboards. But in some sports, lenient policies still compromise safety.
The immersible kayak helmet features secure strapping plus back and side protection against rocks.
Anyone participating in a sport with a risk of head trauma needs to find the best helmet out there for that particular sport. It may mean that you will end up with an entire shelf dedicated to helmets, but the increased safety is worthwhile.
April 30, 2008
No one kind fits all
April 11, 2008
Design update
Update from Kyle of Safety meets Chic:
The idea for my project struck me one day (literally) when I ran into the back of a pickup truck while cycling to school. I usually wear a helmet, but this day I had a class presentation and didn't want to have helmet hair and look like a nerdy cyclist, so I left my helmet at home. I felt a lot less cool when I spent the next two weeks explaining to people that I ran into the truck and that's how I got the minor concussion,black eye and stitches. Reflecting why I didn't wear a helmet that day motivated me to pursue my current project.
Simply the purpose of my project is to design a "casual" helmet for North American women. My goal is to provide a fashionable alternative to the race-inspired, multi-vented spaceships forms and the garish graphics that typifies most helmets on the market. I would like to counter this with a tastefully designed, innocuous helmet that blends in with street fashion. In essence a helmet suits the task of a leisurely ride around town, running errands or commuting. I see this akin to wearing a casual street shoe versus wearing a technical hiking boot just to go to the store. Currently my direction is to design a helmet that is more akin to clothing then a protective gear. I hope to accomplish this by using natural materials such as wool, felt, leather and cork (as an alternative to EPS foam) which are less "techy /racy" appearing and more inspired by the heritage of millinery and traditional helmet construction.
April 4, 2008
A great loss in the freestyle skating community
Below is a letter from Erin Hyser of Skatepile.com who has written to us with the sad news of the recent death of Josh Waggoner, a member of Skatepile's freestyle skating community (a.k.a. aggressive rollerblading). He was not wearing his helmet during the accident. This group is "doing all we can to try to change the stigma associated with helmets and freestyle skating" and have asked all the shops in their sport to sell helmets at cost for a week in honor of Josh.If you are an employee or owner of a shop that sells helmets, The Safety is Sexy Campaign asks that you join this effort in honor of Josh Waggoner.
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Dear Friends and Family,
Most of you are aware of the loss the freestyle rolling community suffered last week. On March 26th at about 2:30pm a dear friend of our family, Josh Waggoner, fell while street skating. The fall was to his ribs first and then Josh hit his head. He was immediately knocked unconscious. We got the phone call at about 3:30pm and gathered our kids to head to the hospital for what we thought was a concussion and maybe some stitches.
Upon arriving to the hospital we found out from Josh’s mom, Vicki, the severity of the situation was far worse. Tom and I thought it was best that he took the kids home and got them to bed. I stayed at the hospital with about 100 of Josh’s closest friends and family. At about 1:00am a hospital patient representative came into the room and told us the most unfortunate news we never wanted to hear. Josh was not going to make it. He continued to be on life support while the family and hospital staff quickly made preparations for organ donations.
By being an organ donor Josh helped save at least 6 other lives. We were able to find out that his heart was given to a person in their 30's in Georgia. His liver was given to two children in Florida. His lungs are breathing in Virginia. It is just like Josh to still be giving in this way.
Josh was only 17 years old. He was such a great young man. He was Bella and TJ's babysitter. He was an employee of Skatepile and a rider for Rollerblade too. Josh was very special to our family. He had so many close friends. He was loved by so many people.
I'm writing today to see if you can find it in your heart to help his family. Josh leaves behind his mother - Vicki, step-father - Eric, 13 year old brother - Brent, and 8 year old twin sisters - Ashley and Allison.
I have set up a Paypal account that is taking donations for the family. All monies will go to them to help with medical expenses, funeral costs and day-to-day living expenses. Pass this email on to anyone you think might help. Thank you so much!!! Please click here if you would like to make a donation. Or you can visit Skatepile.com.Peace and love,
Erin Hyser
April 2, 2008
Use a helmet AND brakes
This is a well needed reminder that wearing a helmet does not make one invincible. Routine safety precautions still need to be upheld to ensure your safety in the helmet-suggested and helmet-required activities you engage in.
Read the entire article here, we've skipped to reason three:
Cycling is everywhere. People ride for fitness, pleasure, competition, transportation, and work, and it’s something just about everyone knows how to do. (Sure, you occasionally meet adults who never learned how to ride a bike, but you generally regard them with the sort of suspicion you reserve for people who don’t use email or who can’t do their own laundry.) Nonetheless, cycling is still regarded as a fringe activity. Sure, there are places where cycling is part of the mainstream culture, like Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portland, Oregon, but none of those places are in the United States. Here, cycling occupies approximately the same niche as pornography, in that it’s something that pretty much everybody is familiar with, yet few people seem willing to openly embrace. Lately I’ve been putting some thoughts into just why this is, and I’ve come up with three primary reasons:
3) Helmets and Brakeless Riding
It goes without saying that it’s better to wear a helmet than not to wear a helmet. And certainly people should be encouraged to wear them. However, the degree to which people are being encouraged to wear them may be backfiring. Pro-helmet vehemence has reached the same level as anti-smoking vehemence, which means that many non-cyclists have the impression that simply mounting a bicycle with a bare head is tantamount to suicide. This makes cycling (helmeted or not) seem like a riskier endeavor than it is. Similarly, some riders who do wear helmets consequently feel a layer of security which is falsely enhanced by a sense of self-righteousness, and which runs deeper than the mere inch or so of foam on their heads. In fact, people put so much faith in helmets that it’s now commonplace to see fixed-gear riders wearing helmets on bikes with no brakes. Choosing a helmet over a brake means that riders are putting way too much confidence in helmets alone, and it suggests a disturbing trend of blind faith and passivity in cycling. This is the same mentality that once made people think that filters would protect them from their cigarettes. Riding a bike with a helmet but no brake is like leaving the stove on when you go to work because you have homeowner’s insurance, or like wearing a condom while you shoot heroin with a dirty needle. The result is we now have a population split between the notion that cycling is too dangerous to pursue, and the notion that a helmet will save them from anything. And of course both of these notions are wrong. So what happens is, half the people don’t ride in the first place, and the other half wind up lying on the ground under their brakeless bikes wondering why their helmet didn’t make them stop fast enough.
