Professor Hugh Hurt Weighs In:
Testing Shows Aero Helmets are a Problem
Summary: Back in 2004 when test labs were struggling with testing road helmets with tapered shapes in the rear,
Professor Harry Hurt sent this memo to Dave Halstead, chairman of the ASTM F08.53 Subcommittee, about the difficulties in
accurately testing wedge-shaped helmets.
Subject: streamlined helmet ejection
To: ASTM F08.53 Chairman: P. David Halstead
From: Hugh H. Hurt, Jr, Head Protection Research Laboratory
During the last couple of years, the technical staff at HPRL has encountered an interesting-and possibly
dangerous-problem with the aerodynamic-shaped or streamlined bicycle helmets. These popular helmets have a teardrop
design which tapers to a wedge at the rear of the helmet, supposedly reducing aerodynamic drag along with increased
ventilation through the many openings in the shell.
The adverse effect of this aerodynamic shape is that the wedge at the back of the helmet tends to deflect and rotate the
helmet on the head when impact occurs there. Any impact at the front or sides of the streamlined helmet is no different
from other helmet shapes, but any impact on the rear wedge tends to rotate the helmet on the head, probably deflecting
the helmet to expose the bare head to impact, and at worst ejecting the helmet completely from the head. Actually,
everybody who has tested these streamlined helmets over the past years has encountered the problem of these helmets being
displaced during impact testing at the rear wedge. Usually additional tape was required to maintain the helmet in place
during rear impact tests; usually the basic retention system alone could not keep the helmet in place during impact
testing on the rear of the helmet.
Unfortunately, the implication of helmet displacement and possible ejection in an actual accident impact did not register
as a real hazard in previous years of testing, but now there are accident cases appearing that show this to be a genuine
hazard for bicycle riders wearing these streamlined helmets. Accident impacts at the rear of these streamlined helmets
can cause the helmet to rotate away and expose the head to injury, or eject the helmet completely. The forces generated
from the wedge effect can stretch the chinstraps very easily, and even break the [occipital--
Prof. Hurt used a
trademarked name] retention devices.
We request that F08.53 committee study this problem and develop advisory information for both manufacturers of these
streamlined helmets and consumer bicyclists who now own and wear such helmets. There is a definite hazard for
displacement or ejection from impact on the rear wedge of these helmets, and bicyclists should be warned of this danger
by an authority such as ASTM.
s/
Hugh H. Hurt, Jr
Professor Emeritus-USC
President, Head Protection Research Laboratory
s/
Christopher B. Swanson
Laboratory Manager, Head Protection Research Laboratory
ASTM discussed the memo at its next technical meeting and did not make changes to its standards, in part based on the
lack of field evidence of an injury mechanism.
This has been one of BHSI's principal themes for years. But there are caveats here: lab testing is done with magnesium
headforms that have no chin, so the straps can not perform as they would on your face, and the interface of magnesium and
helmet does not approximate your scalp, with and without hair, hair gel or sweat. But Professor Hurt indicates that an
injury mechanism is becoming clear in crash reports from actual users. We have not seen that develop over the ensuing
years, and in fact we did not expect to see the problem ever identified in field data, where EMTs were never instructed
to look for it or report it.
For more on this subject see: