Over the past few years, helmet laws have been enacted in many states to protect motorcyclists, skaters, skateboarders and bicyclists from serious head injury if involved in an accident. Every day the amount of vehicles on the road increase. Because of this rise, the road is becoming more and more dangerous for everyone on it. While paying attention to other drivers on the road, it is far too easy to forget about the pedestrians who ride bikes or skate. Recent laws that require motorcyclists, skaters, skateboarders, and bicyclists to wear helmets help lower the injury and fatality rate associated with these activities. Due to the many high-profile snow sport related deaths, many feel that helmet laws need to be enforced; however, forcing skiers and snowboarders to wear helmets is not the issue that needs to be addressed and it will not make these sports any safer or help reduce brain injuries. Many concerned citizens are trying to gain support in order to apply helmet laws to snow sports in hopes that it will help reduce brain injuries just as it did for skateboarders and bicyclists....
Millions of people all over the United States choose motorcycles over automobiles for the thrill, speed, and high performance capabilities. On the other hand, motorcycles are not at all the safest way of transportation. Motorcycles do not provide the passenger with the outer protection that cars provide, therefore, when one crashes, the results are usually much more serious. Injuries to the head are responsible for 76% of fatalities when dealing with motorcycle crashes many of which could have been prevented had the rider been wearing a helmet. For this reason, many states have adopted the motorcycle helmet law. The law states that every passengers must wear a helmet at all times when riding on a motorcycle. This law has created a great deal of controversy. One side supports the law, believing that it protects motorcyclists from danger and saves the economy a great deal of money. The other side argues that the law is unconstitutional and it violates our right to freedom. However, statistics show overwhelming support in favor of the motorcycle helmet law. Although wearing helmets cannot prevent motorcycle crashes, they can greatly reduce the number of deaths caused by head injury as well as lowering taxes, insurance rates, and health care costs. Therefore, the helmet law should be put into effect in every state across the United States.
Are current equipment regulations enough to keep our hockey athletes safe? I ask this after the life threatening injury that recently occurred here in Buffalo. However this isn’t the first time that the NHL (National Hockey League) has seen injuries of this magnitude. What were these injuries? How did they affect the NHL rules? What kind of rules are in place today? What is the NHL doing about neck guards? These questions and more will be answered as we take a look into NHL injuries, the history of equipment regulations, current equipment regulations, and the debate over neck guards.
Injuries are common in most sports that have a contact component attached. Whether it’s at a professional level, or a school level, injuries are always bound to occur in contact sport. This analysis will look into the role headgear could, should and would play, and debates whether it should be made mandatory. Olympic sports such as Ice Hockey, Bicycle Riding and Baseball are just some examples that currently require athletes to wear a form of headgear. However, Australian contact sports such as AFL and Rugby give the option for players to wear headgear for protection. In 2011, 14 year old Ben Robinson was hospitalised after being treated 3 times in a game for head blows in a rugby game . In 1994, professional boxer Bradley Stone died from head injuries whilst boxing against Richie Wenton . Examples like these show the brutality of contact sports. Because of this, my paper will look at the issue of headgear in contact sport and will particularly look at this issue at junior sports level.
American football is full of exciting competition, but do we realize the danger! Helmet safety in football remains an immense problem as the sport accounts for the highest incidence of concussions. Since leather football helmets, the technology for safer helmets has improved drastically and continue to improve. The development of newly designed helmets and technology has lowered the risk of head injuries for players. Furthermore, improvements in helmet testing methods have led to better understanding head injuries and the protectiveness of the helmet. In respect, football helmet safety still remains a challenge, such as a necessity of a proper categorization system to rank helmets and regulations to improve helmet safety. Regardless, standards and regulations attempt to address helmet safety through government intervention and a proper measuring system for football helmets. Despite the cultural perception of football, measures are taken to ensure safety, such as the reforms and education with regards to playing safer football. I intend to address the technological advances and regulation of football towards the discussion of helmet safety. Therefore the aggresivity in football’s culture should embrace stronger helmet standards and regulation that are promoted through improved testing methods and innovations because of the need to prevent further dangerous head injuries, especially concussions.
Ice hockey is a fast-paced and full contact sport whether you are in a body checking league or not. However with a full contact sports, concussions are unfortunately inevitable. There are numerous factors that play into the number of concussions in ice hockey. Body checking and numerous head impact injuries that occur in hockey are a huge reason for concussions. Although administrators are taking steps towards concussion prevention and education, this education is proving to be ineffective. This paper will take a look at the various injury mechanisms that contribute to concussions and other head-impact injuries in ice hockey, as well as discussing concussion education.
The future of hockey protective equipment is closer than originally thought. New helmets and equipment designs aid in the protection of all skill level...
How well do helmets prevent concussions from occurring and prevent the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)?
In addition, future innovations and designs are on the way to further reduce head impact res...
Similar outcomes got here from the Swedish study that predicted a 50% discount in head accidents sustained while snowboarding and riding with helmet use.
His lab at Stanford focuses on understanding and preventing head injuries. Camarillo suggests that there is a certain amount of time it takes for the force of impact to disrupt the central wiring of our brain. He also claims that "If we can slow the head down just enough so that the brain does not lag behind the skull but instead it moves in synchrony with the skull, then we might be able to prevent this mechanism of a concussion." (Camarillo). While this is very good news, the question is how to come about this information and use it to create a helmet that can do this. Camarillo is currently working with a Swedish company to create a better helmet. Although the US will not see one for a while, it can bring about some hope for the
Snowboarding, one of the hardest snowsport to learn but easy to master, it's also one of the most enjoyable snowsport on the planet. Even though it’s fun, you can really injure yourself if your not careful. In this narrative you’ll witness the pain I had to go through trying to learn snowboarding but also witness me mastering this incredible sport. It was a cool afternoon in the frosty month of January, the time was around 5:30 pm and my dad just dropped me off at Snow Valley hill in his black Mitsubishi Lancer. I took my blueish green Burton Custom snowboard from the back of the car, grabbed my helmet, gloves, jacket and snowpants and went to the bottom of the hill. There I placed my board on the soft snow and put on my gear. I was wearing a blue jacket with dark
Assistant City Manager Mike Wanchick said, "A helmet seems to give a false sense of security to the cyclist, who feel less vulnerable and may ride less cautiously," He then went on to add. "As a result, riders wearing a helmet are more likely to have an accident." (Post) Now, the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute (BHSI) statistics show four states accounted for 40 percent of bicycle deaths in 2000, With Texas as one of them. Yet, Wanchick says that "our basic position is that bicycle safety is a parents' primary obligation," adding " What hurts kids are cars and we need to be working the traffic citations out there* people who are licensed to drive cars, not kids learning to ride bicycles." (Post) Even though 10 of the largest cities in Texas have bicycle-helmet ordinances including Dallas and Fort Worth. But, Richardson Texas choose to not act on this issue, but turn a blind eye to one of the silent injuries and the prevention of it by wearing a simple helmet. The BHSI says the statistics show about 800 bicyclists die in the US every year. Plus another one in eight of the cyclists injured has a brain injury.
While the use of helmets does aid in protecting players from brain trauma, they also increase the risky behavior of players; this is called risk compensation. Risk compensation is the adjustment of individual behavior, responding to the perceived changes in risk (TheFreeDictionary.com). Most people that wear helmets have a pre-conceived idea that, because they have a helmet on, they can possess more daring behaviors and be fine. The helmet is basically thought of as a tool to hit harder, or improve performance in today’s culture. Adventure writer and pilot, Lane Wallace (2011) accurately understands the dangers of helmets being used incorrectly, and how they are used as weapons instead of safety. Wallace also theorizes like the NFL, a change in football culture and of viewpoints towards helmets would vastly reduce trauma to the
Have you ever known somebody who was injured in a car accident? What do you think his attitude about seat belts was after they saved his life? If you knew that a seat belt would save your life, you would buckle up! It took years of legislation and public awareness campaigns to make seat belt use mandatory. Now a new topic regarding public safety is coming to light: people are dying or becoming seriously injured in seemingly minor accidents on bicycles when the rider's head strikes the concrete. When the head is unprotected "the brain continues to move in a forward motion while the skull stops moving" (Macyko1), causing trauma. What is needed is a way to protect the brain "by absorbing the energy from the impact, buying extra time for the brain to slow down" (Macyko1). Bicycle riders need to wear helmets to protect their brains from injury, yet unfortunately the public is simply not aware of this need and many people will continue to die or be seriously injured unless something is done. Bicycle helmets save lives and should be required by Arizona State law for riders of all ages.
1. Studies have shown that wearing a helmet can reduce your chances of head injury by 85%