3 ms·

One risk for cyclists from helmet-wearing is torque. If you fall off and bang your head, the helmet will give you some protection against a head injury (how mu

One risk for cyclists from helmet-wearing is torque. If you fall off and bang your head, the helmet will give you some protection against a head injury (how much protection? Nobody knows, because unlike motorcyle helmets, there are no standards). But the helmet increases the width of your head, which means that torque from the impact is more likely to injure your neck.

ben7799 4y ago
Everything about this is misinformation. The neck torque thing constantly has been trotted out by anti-helmet motoryclists and has never been shown to be real. And there are many bicycle helmet standards, some of which are very strict. CPSC, the European equivalents, SNELL bicycle certifications, etc.. There are separate certifications for bicycling disciplines with higher risk like BMX, Downhil/Enduro mountain biking, etc.. as well. The SNELL standards for bicycles don't require the same levels of protection as motorcycle or car motorsports helmets but are very strict in that they will go and buy helmets in the field to hold the manufacturers honest. CPSC famously lets the companies self-certify. CPSC Standard: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/16/part-1203 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/16/part-1203 SNELL Standards: https://smf.org/stds https://smf.org/stds EU Stanard (EN 1078): https://www.helmetfacts.com/standards/en-1078/ https://www.helmetfacts.com/standards/en-1078/