The helmet and its improvements for safety.
Bicycles, the one way we got to move around as kids, and as adults it is the one way we get around too, because cars are mainstream. Safety is an issue when it comes to bicycling and that why the helmet is an important factor when it comes to safety for bikes. Every year, in the U.S, nearly 900 persons die from injuries due to bicycle crashes and over 500,000 persons are being treated in emergency departments. Head injuries are by far the greatest concern for bicyclists, causing one third of emergency department visits, two thirds of hospital admissions, and three fourths of deaths. There are other injuries such as facial injuries, which occur at a rate nearly the same to head injuries. It is hard to trust that helmets would be protective against head injury, but establishing the real effectiveness of helmets is important.
Since the beginning of cycling there have been head injuries. Head injuries increased as more roads were being paved. The materials used to pave the roads are macadam and asphalt and they are unforgiving when it comes to crashes. During the 1800’s high wheeler users in clubs started wearing pitch helmets, they noticed that head injuries were becoming a problem. A helmet made of crushable material such as Pith was likely the best option at the time. When impacting the ground the material would break, but there was fewer cars, roads and competitions back then, therefore it was designed for a single impact. At the turn of the century many Racing Cyclist began using “Helmets” made of leather-covered padding, initially with a ring of leather around the head and a wool ring above that. Soon enough the style had changed, the ring of leather around the head was supplemented by...
... middle of paper ...
...may look, it can save your life or prevent any traumatic injuries. Technology is improving and the series of test being conducted too. Cycling clubs and racers are trying to protect themselves as much as they can, and it makes them happy to see that helmets will be improving as the years go by.
In conclusion the helmet has been a huge help in preventing more head injuries. The helmet has been improved throughout the years and since it originated it has followed through with its purpose. We are in the year 2013 and yet scientist are trying to improve the helmet as much as they can, the future to come from the helmet is very bright. There are faster and stronger cars out there, so cyclist are bound to get hit more, the helmet is yet to get stronger. Personally helmets are a big part of me I enjoy cycling a lot, but I know there is a lot of safety that comes with it.
As cars were able to go faster, safety became a concern to track officials. Helmets were designed to dissipate impact energy, and prevent damage to the drivers head. The first helmets looked like hard hats; later on they developed a chin strap. The first full face helmet was made by Bell, but wasn’t worn until the Indianapolis 500 in 1968. But NASCAR, didn’...
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.
Wearing headgear has many positives, reducing injuries is the most obvious one and it could be argued that its help reduces the chance of injuries and even death. At an elite level, Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech is convinced that wearing headgear saved him from suffering extended injuries after colliding with Fulham striker Orlando Sa back in September 2011. Headgear offers a form of padding when worn. It allows juniors and elite athlete’s the reduced chance of head wounds. By this it means it allows for less “cracked skulls”, scars, wounds and so on. It gives a stronger protection on the softer part of the skull which is more prone to damage...
First, the rules that are enforced are a great way of making the game safe for the players. There are rules like, not being allowed to tackle certain ways. For example, if you tackle someone from the back by pulling them, then that is said to be an illegal tackle. It is also said that it is illegal for someone to pull on others facemask when tackling. There are many others rules that are enforced in the game. Another one is the rule that says, Head to Head is not allowed. What that basically is that you cannot tackle someone by contacting your helmet to the opposing player. This rule makes it greatly safe because it reduces the numbers of injuries that occur to the head and the neck. The head is the key part of the human body. When someone hits another player with the helmet in the head, it reduces the risks of concussion and that can result to serious and severe body failures, including being...
Players are using their heads as a weapon which is careless, dangerous, and should be banned from the sport. A lot of time and money has been invested in improving football helmets. Quinn and Brachmann emphasizes that “There’s a strongly held belief that no matter how much time and money is invested into research and development there will never be a helmet that is truly concussion-proof ” (Quinn and Brachmann). Helmets have been effective in preventing skull fractures, but not concussions. Helmet manufacturers are researching and trying to develop safer protective head
Another very important reason could be that Concussions are mostly caused by tackles that are timed wrong or take a blow to the head. If the NFL added padding for the helmets, maybe the amount of concussions wouldn’t be as high, or they are less of a danger for the players.
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...
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
Imagine that you are a hockey player and are skating down the ice without a visor on your helmet, and suddenly a player from the other team shoots the puck and it hits you in the eye traveling at 70-90 miles per hour. Your face is covered in blood and you can’t see to skate off the ice. As the athletic trainer cleans the blood up you wonder if you will ever be able to see again. After a trip to the doctor you learn that you will have cloudy vision in that eye for the rest of your life and will never be able to play hockey again. If you had known that this was going to happen, would you have worn a face mask or even a visor? It is possible to go completely blind if you get hit in the eye with a hockey puck, yet many hockey players chose to play without a visor or face mask. A visor will keep players safe, it will not make them any less manly, and if they wear one all the kids who look up to them will want to wear one. Because of this all professional players should have to wear a visor and have a face mask as an option. A visor or shield is a piece of plastic that attaches to a hockey helmet and goes to about a person’s nose. A visor can protect a player from getting hit in the eyes by pucks, and lose sticks (Ask). A face mask is a cage that covers the players face completely and prevents pucks and sticks from hitting a player in the face. The most common hockey injuries are cuts by a player’s mouth and chin form sticks and pucks. A face mask protects against these while a shield does not (Ask). Face masks are required in all levels of hockey except professional, if professionals had the option to wear one they could protect themselves from flying pucks.
most important thing to wear. It protects your head in case of a direct impact like airbags protect your head from hitting the dash in a car. There are many brands and sizes to choose from. The most reliable and well known is a company called "Bauer." The size usually depends on the shape and measurements of your head. The next impo...
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
The most important thing about playing football is safety, and some items we use for safety are not what they’ve cracked up to be. There is virtually no difference in the safety of different brands who say they are better than the next. It turns out all helmet brands provide the same amount of protection in some way. Sdfsdfsdf repeated twelve mile per hour impact with ten popular helmet brands and they all only cut the concussion risk by twenty percent. If even the “best protection” helmet band was the same as all the others I believe that something has to be done with the safety and protection against
1. Studies have shown that wearing a helmet can reduce your chances of head injury by 85%