On 6/15/2018 3:52 PM, jbeattie wrote:

snip

Well, it was a mail fraud and federal counterfeiting case, so helmet safety was not really the issue, but the fact is that these knock-offs were junk.

I've smashed two or three helmets, so having one that works to the extent they can work is a good thing. No, they don't protect you from all harms, etc., etc. (please refer to last 25 years of posts), but they can protect against certain harms if well manufactured.

Left unsaid was:

a) did the counterfeit helmets pass or fail the CPSC test.
b) did they test the genuine helmets in the same way.

The fact that a helmet breaks upon impact is not new or something bad,
they are single impact devices. They are not like football helmets.

"In an inelastic collision, the objects in the collision absorb energy.
In this case, the bike helmet should absorb as much of the energy as
possible. It should slow your head down as gradually as possible,
without sending it back in the opposite direction from the point of impact.

In the process, that bike helmet is probably going to crush, and not
bounce back. In fact, it may break into pieces. In any case, it’s not
going to keep the shape it had before the crash.

That’s a good thing."