Danny's Weblog

Are motorbike helmets practical?

While I have never been in favor of laws making the wearing of safety belts, helmets etc *compulsory*, I have certainly viewed them as indispensable. Recently however I have been wondering if helmets are actually practical in SE Asia.

1. Very clearly they are horribly hot to wear. As far as I know they have no provision for ventilation (quite possibly any slots would seriously weaken the shell). Surely something could be arranged: for instance some kind of holder for a wet towel to provide evaporative cooling, plus a heat pipe to something or other in the helmet.

2. But that would worsen what I now see as an even more serious problem: both the weight *and the angular inertia* of the helmet. I remember wearing a flak helmet when I was playing soldiers. At the time I was young and fit, but I rapidly realized that if you turned your head carelessly while wearing the helmet you could strain your neck instantaneously. Indeed, this would happen about every time I had to wear one for an extended period, so I had to hold my head even more still.

3. And of course riding a motorbike in SE Asia, like manning an opcent in the Fulda Gap, is a multiple-threat environment. The moto driver has to check *all* directions, not just the legal ones. And he usually has to turn his head when he does it, because the visor restricts his side view so badly.

4. It seems to me this is the *real* reason why so many preposterously flimsy helmets are sold: not their *weight* but their *rotational inertia*.

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