On Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 1:01:03 PM UTC-7, The Real Bev wrote:
On 09/20/2015 04:04 PM, wrote:

I could go into great detail about helmets since I started learning
about them as the Safety Director of the American Federation of
Motorcyclists about the time Bell started and I had some long
discussions with people at Bell. I am also an engineer and a
scientist. I wrote one of the few peer reviewed papers on bicycle
helmets.

Long ago I had/read a USAF publication about helmet design which had a
lot of useful/interesting information. I recently did a google etc.
search for it and turned up nothing. Did you ever read that?

I remember reading a paper long ago about helmet design but they were for fighter pilots and the helmets were designed to nestle the head securely into the headrest so that violent maneuvers couldn't bounce your head off of the canopy.

Helmets are capable of VERY little and at the cost of setting you up
for two other kinds of killer injuries.

I wear one because they are good for one thing - keeping your head
from getting gravel rash in a mild crash. In harder crashes they can
cause severe concussions or broken necks. Funny thing - evolution
didn't design your head like a helmet for a reason.

I remember reading that they were designed to "protect" the head from a
6-foot fall straight down. An unlikely occurrence, I think...

You are correct. Mind you that Bell ran their early experiments making a lot of assumptions such as that the reason for head injuries was a fractured skull which has since been shown to be inaccurate. Very serious head injuries occur far below the force that would break a skull while wearing a helmet that spreads the forces evenly over a larger area. This is the growth of knowledge and not some sort of mistake on their part.

The majority of accidents to adults are the fault of the car. An
approaching driver making a sudden left turn. And a car approaching
from behind, accelerating to pass you and then suddenly turning
right.

The left turn danger is MUCH reduced if you wear bright clothing.
This both makes you much easier to see to the approaching driver plus
it makes it more difficult for the driver to guess your speed making
him think you are faster than he might otherwise think.

I favor as much neon-color as possible -- the guy who hits me is NOT
going to be able to tell the judge he didn't see me.

For awhile bright neon outerwear started becoming popular after I complained so loudly about the popularity of Sky's all black outfits and other teams combinations of black and white that made these riders effectively invisible in shade/sun areas such as tree lined roads. But it appears to have been a fad and more and more riders are falling back to dull, lifeless colors which make them a target on streets