Neat, but it's fixing a problem that doesn't really exist.
Bike Helmets are reliable and inexpensive. This thing isn't. How about putting it on the bike itself, or on other parts of the wearer's body, so that it works in coordination with the helmet.
Apparently among some populations they aren't. A black female friend of mine was explaining how much of a problem helmets are for folk without naturally straight hair who have had it artificially straightened. She would definitely be a customer for this product.
I saw a complaint once that helmets were not perfect -- namely, they could protect your head, but could increase your risk of neck injuries. Apparently, this is only "soft or no-shell helmets", though[1] -- which IMO are junk for that reason -- and frankly, risking your head to "protect" your neck is pretty idiotic reasoning anyway.
Comments
Neat, but it's fixing a problem that doesn't really exist.
Bike Helmets are reliable and inexpensive. This thing isn't. How about putting it on the bike itself, or on other parts of the wearer's body, so that it works in coordination with the helmet.
Apparently among some populations they aren't. A black female friend of mine was explaining how much of a problem helmets are for folk without naturally straight hair who have had it artificially straightened. She would definitely be a customer for this product.
No-one wears helmets in Amsterdam, very few die (~5 p.a.) mostly due to others faults (trucks). Not sure whether helmets would help.
Helmets give you helmet hair.
Where do you put them when not using?
On the bike.
Most dead bikers aren't at fault. That's part of the point of the helmet.
Where are you drawing the boundary of Amsterdam? It has ~0.1 the population of NYC, and 0.5 the bike helment death rate.
So, maybe helmets would save lives in Amsterdam (not to mention non-death casualties like paralysis)
The problem it fixes is that "fashionable" people don't like wearing bike helmets. They don't like how helmets look, mess with their hair, whatever.
So if even one person who won't wear a bike helmet uses this instead, consider it a success.
>> The problem it fixes is that "fashionable" people don't like wearing bike helmets.
But then you're messing with natural selection.
This vapid observation could also be made about seatbelt laws and warning labels on poisons. And yet . . .
I saw a complaint once that helmets were not perfect -- namely, they could protect your head, but could increase your risk of neck injuries. Apparently, this is only "soft or no-shell helmets", though[1] -- which IMO are junk for that reason -- and frankly, risking your head to "protect" your neck is pretty idiotic reasoning anyway.
[1]: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00036941.htm