MultiVu Video: NEW TESTS SHOW SOME BIKE HELMETS PROTECT HEADS BETTER THAN OTHERS

NEWS: New tests show some bike helmets protect heads better than others

FORMAT:  B-roll and Soundbites

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:  Video, hard copy requests, downloadable MPEG4, contact information and more available at http://multivu.prnewswire.com/broadcast/83517161/press.html

STORY SUMMARY:
Bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injuries in cycling, but, until now, consumers who want to buy one that offers the best protection have had little information to go on. A new ratings program, based on collaborative research by Virginia Tech and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, fixes that.

The first 30 helmets to be tested — all popular adult-size models — show a range of performance, with four earning the highest rating of 5 stars, two earning 2 stars, and the rest in the 3-4-star range. Cost wasn't a good predictor of performance. Both the $200 Bontrager Ballista MIPS and the $75 Specialized Chamonix MIPS earn 5 stars.

While the government requires that helmets pass a series of tests to be sold in the U.S., the new ratings rely on a more realistic evaluation based on joint Virginia Tech and IIHS research.

Bike helmets in the U.S. are required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to pass a series of tests in which helmets are struck against an anvil at a set speed. The only requirement is that the helmets prevent head impact accelerations over 300 g, a level associated with skull fracture or severe brain injury. There is no requirement for helmets to limit concussion-level forces, which are more common among bicyclists in crashes.

CPSC tests reveal a range of performance within the 300 g limit, and Consumer Reports takes that variation into account for its own helmet ratings. However, those tests don't reflect the circumstances of most real-world bike crashes.

B-ROLL INCLUDES:
Helmet testing at Virginia Tech and other related footage, soundbites from David Zuby, Executive Vice President and Chief Research Officer, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety; Steve Rowson, Director of Virginia Tech Helmet Lab and Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics; Megan Bland, Virginia Tech Doctoral Student

SOURCE: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

FOR MORE STORY INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL: Joe Young, (434) 985-9244
FOR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS, PLEASE EMAIL: Streams@multivu.com

This information is being sent to you by MultiVu on behalf of: 
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 1005 N. Glebe Rd, Arlington, VA 22201 www.iihs.org

/PRNewswire -- June 26, 2018/

SOURCE Insurance Institute for Highway Safety