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Just a bit of info...Just seen this in general, some one's friend had an accident, resulting in his helmet comeing off, heres a reply from someone who has had dealings with the problem in the past "I hate to say this, but even the most expensive best fitting helmets can come off even though they may be a good fit and securely fastened."I have just concluded a case (Finnis v Caulfield) 2002, where Mr Finnis was riding his bike along a man road when Caulfield did a right turn across the bikes path causing a collision to occur.The rider hit the nearside rear wing and was thrown over the roof, and as he impacted his helmet which was only 3 months old and was known to be a good fit and securely fastened was seen to come off his head.The bike then followed Mr Finnis over the roof of the car and landed on top of the rider causing multiple serious injuries as well as brain damage.It was treated as a fatality, but surprisingly he survived although he did suffer mild brain damage which will prevent himfrom running his own business as he was pre accident.The defendants insurance admitted liability as far as causation was concerned, but denied liability in respect of his injuries on the basis that his helmet must have been insecure, a poor fit or poor condition or a combination of all three.It was passed to me to investigate, and I was able to prove that the helmet was securely fastned, the helmet was as in new condition, and it was a good fit.However, there was something in the back of my mind that reminded me I had come across this type of thing before, so I did some digging of previous accidents I had attended, and found two where the very same thing had happened, but these were fatals.So, my investigation led me to a British Medical Journal report published in 1983 written by Mr P G Richards who was then a top Neuro surgeon at the Central Middlesex Hospital.He had studied helmets coming off in accidents over a number of years both on the road and whilst racing, and he reported three case studies.1. An 18 year old girl riding pillion, was thrown from the machine after a collision with an oncoming vehicle. Her helmet was seen to fly off before impact which was later found with the strap intact and fixing bolts still in place. She was unconscious from impact and suffered diffuse brain injury and died six days later.2. A 21 year old racing motorcyclist crashed, and during the course of the accident his helmet became detached from his head. Fortunately he was not injured. The helmet was found with the strap correctly fastened and the fittings in tact. Later examination of the rider with the helmet on showed that an apparently well fitting helmet could easily be lifted over the back of his head.3. Two racing motorcyclists aged 23 and 29 (British 250 GP), collided and were thrown from their machines. A film of the accident (BBC TV) showed both helmets clearly coming off over the backs of the riders heads. Both riders suffered fatal diffuse brain injury.There was no major damage to the shell or lining of the three helmets recoved in the three fatal cases.Anyway, I tracked down Mr Richards who now works at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and is also the Chief Medical Officer to the FIM and attends all the GP's. I went and saw him, and he confirmed that the head in certain cases has been found to shrink momentarily by up to 3 times its normal helmet size which is enough to allow even the best fitting helmet to come off. There have been numerous other reported cases over the years in addition to the 3 reported cases.Even theough the head may shrink, it happens so quickly, the rider does not even know it has happened because of the distortion, and there is no evidence of this happening post accident.Anyway, to conclude, I submitted my report together with the statement of Mr Richards, and the case was settled last October.The defendant apparently conceded liability when presented with my report and the statement of Mr Richards, and it settled for £1,487,562.33 which included £95,000 for general damages and £5,000 for congenial employment.The legal costs ran out at about £400,000 which had the third party conceded liability in the first place would have been a fraction of that cost.Anyway, the bottom line is, even though a helmet may be expensive and well fitting, it can still come off despite being well secured, but my investigations over the years when visiting the various factories around the world show that a large percentage of the population who ride bikes still wear helmets that are at least 1 in some cases up to 2 or 3 times too big or are the wrong shape, so the chances of a helmet coming off as described above increase even more so.
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