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POC ramps up helmet safety with SPIN rotational impact technology

SPIN is Swedish company's simplier take on MIPS helmet safety feature

Swedish helmet and apparel company POC is a brand focused on safety, whether it’s visibility with very bright clothing or its unique helmet designs, and its latest quest in the pursuit of rider safety is SPIN, a new technology that is designed to reduce rotational impacts during a crash and lessen the impact.

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If you’re thinking it sounds a bit like MIPS, then you’d be right. POC was one of the first companies back in 2008 to utilise MIPS technology, which added a plastic liner to allow a small range, up to 15mm, of rotational movement during an impact, but POC has this year decided to develop a new solution that it claims is simpler, lighter and allows a better fit.

- Cycling helmets — everything you need to know

Love or hate it, there are a lot of safety claims backing up MIPS and most helmet companies have gradually adopted the technology, usually with a small increase in price. If there’s one complaint against MIPS is that it often impacts the fit of the helmet as it takes up a bit of space - I’ve found some helmets a tighter fit once upgraded to MIPS.

POC hasn’t dropped MIPS, yet, but it has spent two years developing its own version which aims to offer the same benefits but without the drawback of limiting fit.

SPIN, short for Shearing Pad INside, involves silicone-filled pads placed at strategic places inside the helmet intended to allow a small range of rotational movement so the helmet can move relative to the head. POC says it reduces the amount of force transmitted to a user’s head and brain in the event of an oblique impact. It reckons that angled impacts are the most common and its research shows that this sort of impact can cause serious head injury with a much lower impact force.

“Rotational impact protection is necessary to counter the forces involved in oblique impacts, which are a common cause of head injury. SPIN pads are integrated inside a helmet and add an extra layer of rotational impact protection by shearing in any direction, allowing the head to move relative to the helmet, reducing the force transmitted to the brain,” explains the company.

“Without SPIN pads the remaining rotational impact energy would require nature’s impact defence system, Cerebrospinal fluid, to react. However, by using SPIN pads another layer of protection is introduced as SPIN pads are able to shear in any direction and reduce the energy and force transmitted to the head.”

Compared to MIPS, SPIN is claimed to be lighter and allow for a closer fitting helmet because it eliminates the plastic layer inside the helmet and uses rather conventional looking pads. POC has produced this video to demonstrate how the pads are intended to work.

The new technology was first rolled out in POC’s snowsports helmets at the beginning of the year, and for 2018 it is adding it to several of its mountain bike helmets. There’s no news on rolling out SPIN to its road helmets at this stage, but it’s surely only a matter of time.

 

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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53 comments

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alansmurphy | 6 years ago
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Dave, there are certainly some on here that argue that they offer no protection. My chair game was more to point out concrete hurts but I could certainly think about spring loading the front legs.

I also massively agree with the Boardman argument I. E. that as you suggest, it's so far down the pecking order it's untrue. Furthermore, should never be used when victim blaming as is so often the case...

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brooksby | 6 years ago
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Oh, right: it has been addressed, and discussed ad nauseam. I'll get my coat...

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alansmurphy | 6 years ago
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Hasn't the criteria for SI data changed over time?

Also, something as simple as looking at it by miles ridden can have a significant impact. With our sport being the new golf haven't the number of recreational miles increased significantly? I'd imagine leisure miles are much different in terms of KSI than city commuting.

First ally, I have a simple test for those for and against helmets. I have a 2 by 2 concrete slab, a dining chair and a helmet... Pop along and get involved.

I am in the helmet saved my life camp but don't give a shite who chooses to wear one (except my kids). What I hate is someone telling me it has no benefit as that's simply idiotic and I'd invite them to the aforementioned chair...

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davel replied to alansmurphy | 6 years ago
1 like
alansmurphy wrote:

I have a simple test for those for and against helmets. I have a 2 by 2 concrete slab, a dining chair and a helmet... Pop along and get involved.

I am in the helmet saved my life camp but don't give a shite who chooses to wear one (except my kids). What I hate is someone telling me it has no benefit as that's simply idiotic and I'd invite them to the aforementioned chair...

I don't think anyone says they can never offer any protection, and no-one can argue that yours didn't protect you. It's the weight of the benefit that is debated - and I can't see it being resolved.

You highlight one of the criticisms, because I'd take the helmet in your test any day of the week, but they're not designed to protect you from stones being dropped on your head, which is a pretty unlikely riding scenario. The criticism is that the rating and testing of them is too specific for them to be of much real world use, when you consider how much they're mandated and the perception of their safety. In certain offs they might well be better than nothing but they're certainly not marketed or mandated with that as their strapline.

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hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
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@Rich_cb - I can't find any decent stats on UK helmet use over the years. Have you found any?

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Rich_cb replied to hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
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hawkinspeter wrote:

@Rich_cb - I can't find any decent stats on UK helmet use over the years. Have you found any?

I posted a graph earlier in the thread.

This is the data that the graph is based on.

https://trl.co.uk/reports/PPR420

It's not perfect but the methodology is consistent so the results are comparable.

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hawkinspeter replied to Rich_cb | 6 years ago
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Rich_cb wrote:
hawkinspeter wrote:

@Rich_cb - I can't find any decent stats on UK helmet use over the years. Have you found any?

I posted a graph earlier in the thread. This is the data that the graph is based on. https://trl.co.uk/reports/PPR420 It's not perfect but the methodology is consistent so the results are comparable.

Thanks - I should have checked the thread.

I'm not convinced that the helmet usage lines up that well with the KSI stats, but we're just playing with graphs here, so it's all down to interpretation.

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Rich_cb | 6 years ago
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@Davel

hawkinspeter posted a graph showing the years you asked about.

Prior to 1995 there hadn't really been any significant change in the KSI rate since the early 1980s, from 2002 onwards the KSI rate closely mirrors the pedestrian rate suggesting that it was a joint factor at play from then on.

I would argue that the difference between 42% and 35% is significant. hawkinspeter's graph shows the comparison with pedestrians well, from 1995 onwards there is a clear change.

Interestingly the number of overall injuries (KSI + slight/minor) suffered by cyclists was pretty static from 1995 to 2005.

So whatever the cyclist specific factor was it did not prevent cyclists from having accidents, it just reduced the proportion of accidents that resulted in a death or serious injury.

I would argue that is more evidence that the factor was cycling helmets.

(Note: the overall injury data is not as reliable as the KSI data but it's the best we've got)

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hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
1 like

Here's another graph that suggests to me that helmets are far less important than the road culture. Interestingly, Portugal is an outlier and they recently revoked their mandatory helmet law (presumably because mandating helmet use tends to lead to fewer cyclists and increased KSIs) and can be contrasted with Amsterdam and their lack of helmet use. More importantly, it suggests that the number of cyclists on the road is a major factor in cyclists' road safety (whereas the benefits of helmets are somewhat debatable).

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davel | 6 years ago
1 like

@Rich: I do get exactly that argument - that there's a cycling-specific difference. And there might be, but we haven't found it yet.

What I'm saying is

1. I'm skeptical that an increase in use of 15% would cause a reduction in KSIs of 7%, and that we'll ever identify and quantify all the factors, but also

2. When you take the overall reduction of a huge volume of KSIs - tens of thousands, compared to about a thousand cycling-specific ones, that a reduction of 42% cyclist KSIs not significantly different from the overall 35%?

And of course all this is framed by your decade from 1995. Could we pick a year either side and find that cycling is closer to the trend than the 7%? ie. I haven't crunched these, but is this 7% difference for this single set effectively noise? What does 94-04 or 96-06 look like etc.

Right, lashing it down here and I really need to get my new TT bike on the turbo and also try out Rouvy. Will check in later.

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simonmb | 6 years ago
1 like

Nothing science-based about my next statement, and even I don't fully understand it, but I'm just back from Amsterdam and spent four days cycling the city - and comfortably riding sans helmet. First day back home - on goes the helmet. I couldn't even contemplate cycling without a lid here. The same thing happened in and after Copenhagen. Anyone else had the same experience? Do they / did they have the same helmet debate on Dutch and Danish cycling forums?

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burtthebike replied to simonmb | 6 years ago
2 likes

simonmb wrote:

Nothing science-based about my next statement, and even I don't fully understand it, but I'm just back from Amsterdam and spent four days cycling the city - and comfortably riding sans helmet. First day back home - on goes the helmet. I couldn't even contemplate cycling without a lid here. The same thing happened in and after Copenhagen. Anyone else had the same experience? Do they / did they have the same helmet debate on Dutch and Danish cycling forums?

Put your finger on it there Simonmb.  Cycling in Amsterdam is much safer than in any UK city, and no-one there wears a helmet, apart from road racers and tourists, so whatever makes cycling safe, it isn't helmets.  So why do we waste so much time talking about helmets which are just a distraction from the real issue, and why aren't we doing what the Dutch and the Danes do and making cycling safe?

That's why I object so much to articles and advertorials extolling the virtues of helmets, because they are essentially a waste of time and most definitely not "the answer" to making cycling safe.   They also deter some people by making it appear that cycling is a very risky activity, as why would you need to wear a helmet if it wasn't?  The risks of cycling are about the same as walking, but nobody considers that inherently dangerous.  

As has been pointed out elsewhere in this thread, there seems to be a correlation between the number of cyclists and the risks of cycling, so by deterring some people, helmet publicity puts us all at greater danger.  There was another report last week which showed that the heatlh benefits of cycling are even bigger than had been estimated before, so helmet publicity also increases ill health by deterring people.

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Stumps | 6 years ago
5 likes

Just to add it won't save my life in a high speed collision or being crushed by a lorry

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Stumps | 6 years ago
4 likes

Regardless of scientific tests saying they do or don't work and all the people saying it saved my life or those saying it won't save you if a ton of metal runs over you etc etc......

After nigh on 30yrs of attending RTC's involving bikes and seeing the mess a head makes when it's scraped along the ground I will happily wear one.

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BehindTheBikesheds replied to Stumps | 6 years ago
2 likes

Stumps wrote:

Regardless of scientific tests saying they do or don't work and all the people saying it saved my life or those saying it won't save you if a ton of metal runs over you etc etc...... After nigh on 30yrs of attending RTC's involving bikes and seeing the mess a head makes when it's scraped along the ground I will happily wear one.

By definition you wear a helmet for walking and when in a motorvehicle, if not, why not?

We already know that almost half of all serious head trauma's are from a group that occupy motorvehicles and that as a rate people on foot are more likely to have a serious head trauma.

Clearly your own bias proves you can't assess risk correctly.

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burtthebike replied to Stumps | 6 years ago
2 likes

Stumps wrote:

Regardless of scientific tests saying they do or don't work and all the people saying it saved my life or those saying it won't save you if a ton of metal runs over you etc etc...... After nigh on 30yrs of attending RTC's involving bikes and seeing the mess a head makes when it's scraped along the ground I will happily wear one.

You might like to check out the term "observation bias".

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alansmurphy | 6 years ago
2 likes

"valid point, but I think you rather missed mine, which is that they don't actually work in practice, despite all the "helmet saved my life" stories"

Don't they? So when the metal pole smashed my quite solid shoulder through my skin fracturing and dislocating it and smashed the shit out of my helmet... You think it offered me no protection?

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davel | 6 years ago
4 likes
Rich_cb wrote:
burtthebike wrote:

Of course you should make your own minds up, but perhaps that process might work better if you are acquainted with the facts rather than just the propaganda?

Everybody likes facts.

Did you know that in the decade after 1995 the KSI rate for cyclists dropped dramatically?

Very interesting fact.

So between 1995 and 2005, cyclist KSIs decreased from say 1550 to what: 900? A pretty significant decrease of 42%?

But wait: overall road KSIs fell from 49,621 to 32,201 in the same period: a decrease of 35%.

http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN02198/SN02198.pdf

So what are the facts for the decade:
-35% decrease in all road KSIs
-42% decrease in cyclist KSIs
-70-80% of all cyclists weren't even wearing a helmet (your other graph)

Conclusion: it's completely disingenuous to link the cyclist KSI decrease with helmets, isn't it?

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Rich_cb replied to davel | 6 years ago
1 like
davel wrote:

Conclusion: it's completely disingenuous to link the cyclist KSI decrease with helmets, isn't it?

Nope.

Cyclist KSIs fell at a faster rate than overall KSIs.

That indicates there was a cyclist specific factor at play does it not?

Now let's try and think of some cyclist specific factors.

Any suggestions?

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burtthebike replied to Rich_cb | 6 years ago
2 likes

Rich_cb wrote:
davel wrote:

Conclusion: it's completely disingenuous to link the cyclist KSI decrease with helmets, isn't it?

Nope. Cyclist KSIs fell at a faster rate than overall KSIs. That indicates there was a cyclist specific factor at play does it not? Now let's try and think of some cyclist specific factors. Any suggestions?

The first thing I was taught about stats is that correlation does not equal causation.  In Australia when they brought in the helmet law, deaths to cyclists fell, but deaths to pedestrians fell by slightly more, but that didn't stop the helmet proponents claiming that helmets were effective, even when pedestrians weren't wearing them, so the cause of the fall in cyclists' deaths was almost certainly not due to helmets.  In fact, because there were fewer cyclists, the rate of cycling deaths went up, not down.

Same thing happened with motorcycle helmets in the UK.  After the introduction of the law, motorcycling deaths fell, but deaths to all road users fell, apart from cyclists, pedestrians and rear seat passengers in cars.  So although the helmet campaigners claimed a victory for road safety, the cause of that fall in motorcycling deaths is highly unlikely to have been the helmet law.

Ice cream causes drowning, and the sales of ice cream and the figures for drowning are the same shape.  But of course that is nonsense, and it is coincidence that more people buy ice cream and go swimming when it's hot.

Simply posting two sets of data and implying that they are related is disingenuous.

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Rich_cb replied to burtthebike | 6 years ago
1 like
burtthebike wrote:

Simply posting two sets of data and implying that they are related is disingenuous.

Correlation is not causation.

If you compare the pedestrian KSI figures to the cyclist KSI figures you can see that the cyclist KSI suddenly began to decline post 1995 after decades of stasis whilst the pedestrian rate continued to decline at its previous rate.

By taking pedestrians as our control group we can eliminate a lot of the statistical noise and provide stronger statistical evidence than just correlation.

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hawkinspeter replied to Rich_cb | 6 years ago
3 likes

Rich_cb wrote:
burtthebike wrote:

Simply posting two sets of data and implying that they are related is disingenuous.

Correlation is not causation. If you compare the pedestrian KSI figures to the cyclist KSI figures you can see that the cyclist KSI suddenly began to decline post 1995 after decades of stasis whilst the pedestrian rate continued to decline at its previous rate. By taking pedestrians as our control group we can eliminate a lot of the statistical noise and provide stronger statistical evidence than just correlation.

I just had a little look at http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/2636/cycling/stats-uk/index.html and they've got a graph that implies that pedestrian fatalities have dropped at a sharper rate than cyclist fatalities. Does this mean that pedestrians started wearing helmets in the early nineties?

 

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Rich_cb replied to hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
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hawkinspeter wrote:

I just had a little look at http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/2636/cycling/stats-uk/index.html and they've got a graph that implies that pedestrian fatalities have dropped at a sharper rate than cyclist fatalities. Does this mean that pedestrians started wearing helmets in the early nineties?

 

No, it means that in 1990 a pedestrian specific factor starting affecting the pedestrian KSI rate.

Whatever that factor was it did not affect the cyclist KSI rate (which had been broadly static since the early 1980s).

A pedestrian specific factor might be something like improved pedestrian crossings for example.

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madcarew replied to hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
0 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

Rich_cb wrote:
burtthebike wrote:

Simply posting two sets of data and implying that they are related is disingenuous.

Correlation is not causation. If you compare the pedestrian KSI figures to the cyclist KSI figures you can see that the cyclist KSI suddenly began to decline post 1995 after decades of stasis whilst the pedestrian rate continued to decline at its previous rate. By taking pedestrians as our control group we can eliminate a lot of the statistical noise and provide stronger statistical evidence than just correlation.

I just had a little look at http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/2636/cycling/stats-uk/index.html and they've got a graph that implies that pedestrian fatalities have dropped at a sharper rate than cyclist fatalities. Does this mean that pedestrians started wearing helmets in the early nineties?

 

It simply implies that some factor may be at work in pedestrian KSI's causing the decrease. It would be worth looking at the possible causes for that decrease, perhaps starting with miles walked, use of public transport, improved car / pedestrain impact safety factors. Just as one needs to look at a possible cause for the cycling KSI decrease, in which case we have a convenient and good candidate in the increase of helmet wearing. Obviously cyclists and pedestrians don't exist in the exact same risk climate so expecting there to be a common factor in the KSI decline may be jumping the gun a little...

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davel replied to Rich_cb | 6 years ago
2 likes
Rich_cb wrote:
davel wrote:

Conclusion: it's completely disingenuous to link the cyclist KSI decrease with helmets, isn't it?

Nope.

Cyclist KSIs fell at a faster rate than overall KSIs.

That indicates there was a cyclist specific factor at play does it not?

Now let's try and think of some cyclist specific factors.

Any suggestions?

A few*, but stop the implications - make an actual argument.

This is the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen you post these two graphs together while waiting for others to join the dots for you. You want to make the implication without having to make a specific claim, because you know you don't have the evidence to back anything specific regarding helmet use in that decade up. You've never qualified it by conceding that other factors were at play across ALL ROAD USERS - you post the graphs, and drop the mic.

Road KSIs fell off a cliff in 1995. They decreased by over a third, suggesting major, major factors in general road safety improvement. The vast, vast majority of road users not KSId in that decade (even cyclists!) weren't wearing helmets, never mind cycling helmets. In this same period we're looking at an increase of helmet use from roughly a laughable 15% to a less-than-stellar 30%. Cycling helmets in this overall decrease are just noise.

But what are you claiming of that increase? That helmet use increasing by 15% caused the decrease of cycling KSIs by 42%? No, that would be silly - but you make the implication each time you post those two graphs and sit back. You're not daft, you know that you don't have enough material to lead to a conclusion, but you call BTBS out for posting figures and extrapolating an argument, so you need to do better.

So what's your implication now, seeing as we've discounted the bulk of that KSI decrease via 'general road KSIey improvements'? You're still attributing that greater KSI decrease (42% vs 35%, so a decrease of 7%) to helmets? Are you suggesting that an increase of 15% in helmet use results in a decrease of 7% in KSIs?

* My own fact is that Indurain won his last TdF in 1995. It's obvious that the sportier UK riders decided to devote their next decade of riding to Big Mig, 2 years for each TdF win, and, seeing how effective his brain-sappingly boring riding style was, decided to emulate that. Fewer accidents and collisions: fewer KSIs. Oooh, easily, let's say, 6.85% fewer.

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ConcordeCX replied to davel | 6 years ago
2 likes

davel wrote:
Rich_cb wrote:
davel wrote:

Conclusion: it's completely disingenuous to link the cyclist KSI decrease with helmets, isn't it?

Nope. Cyclist KSIs fell at a faster rate than overall KSIs. That indicates there was a cyclist specific factor at play does it not? Now let's try and think of some cyclist specific factors. Any suggestions?

A few*, but stop the implications - make an actual argument. This is the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen you post these two graphs together while waiting for others to join the dots for you. You want to make the implication without having to make a specific claim, because you know you don't have the evidence to back anything specific regarding helmet use in that decade up. You've never qualified it by conceding that other factors were at play across ALL ROAD USERS - you post the graphs, and drop the mic. [...]

http://theconversation.com/dont-feed-the-trolls-really-is-good-advice-he...

 

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Rich_cb replied to ConcordeCX | 6 years ago
2 likes
ConcordeCX wrote:

http://theconversation.com/dont-feed-the-trolls-really-is-good-advice-he...

 

Barring a pompous comment about understanding statistics you've made no contribution to the thread.

Jog on.

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Rich_cb replied to davel | 6 years ago
0 likes
davel wrote:

A few*, but stop the implications - make an actual argument.

This is the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen you post these two graphs together while waiting for others to join the dots for you. You want to make the implication without having to make a specific claim, because you know you don't have the evidence to back anything specific regarding helmet use in that decade up. You've never qualified it by conceding that other factors were at play across ALL ROAD USERS - you post the graphs, and drop the mic.

Road KSIs fell off a cliff in 1995. They decreased by over a third, suggesting major, major factors in general road safety improvement. The vast, vast majority of road users not KSId in that decade (even cyclists!) weren't wearing helmets, never mind cycling helmets. In this same period we're looking at an increase of helmet use from roughly a laughable 15% to a less-than-stellar 30%. Cycling helmets in this overall decrease are just noise.

But what are you claiming of that increase? That helmet use increasing by 15% caused the decrease of cycling KSIs by 42%? No, that would be silly - but you make the implication each time you post those two graphs and sit back. You're not daft, you know that you don't have enough material to lead to a conclusion, but you call BTBS out for posting figures and extrapolating an argument, so you need to do better.

So what's your implication now, seeing as we've discounted the bulk of that KSI decrease via 'general road KSIey improvements'? You're still attributing that greater KSI decrease (42% vs 35%, so a decrease of 7%) to helmets? Are you suggesting that an increase of 15% in helmet use results in a decrease of 7% in KSIs?

* My own fact is that Indurain won his last TdF in 1995. It's obvious that the sportier UK riders decided to devote their next decade of riding to Big Mig, 2 years for each TdF win, and, seeing how effective his brain-sappingly boring riding style was, decided to emulate that. Fewer accidents and collisions: fewer KSIs. Oooh, easily, let's say, 6.85% fewer.

Firstly, I've posted the graphs once before and actually specifically drew attention to the different rates of decline for different road users. So your 'mic drop' accusation is bullshit.

I call BTBS out for posting made up statistics and for deliberately/ignorantly confusing relative and absolute risk.

Moving on.

At a population level there will always be multiple factors at play.

By comparing the KSI rates for cyclists, pedestrians and overall KSIs you can cut through a lot of the noise.

When there is a significant difference between the rates for different road users it strongly implies that group specific factors are having an effect.

The task then is to identify group specific factors that changed significantly during the period in question.

Cycle helmets meet that criteria.

Does it mean cycle helmets accounted for the entire difference. No.

Is it absolute irrefutable proof? No.

Is it possible to obtain absolute irrefutable proof? No.

It is evidence though.

The quality of evidence in the helmet debate is generally poor. Most studies are small and riddled with errors.

This evidence is, therefore, as good or better than pretty much anything else in the debate.

The hypothesis is that the large increase in cycle helmet use contributed, in part, to the relatively steep in decline in cyclist KSIs compared to other road users.

There is some evidence to support that hypothesis.

If you have evidence of other cyclist specific factors that changed during that period feel free to post them. Jokey suggestions about Big Mig aside...

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davel replied to Rich_cb | 6 years ago
0 likes

@Rich: that's a pretty rambling admission that you're arguing ideologically. I'm not saying others aren't doing the same, but posting unrelated graphs does not an argument make - it's the kind of stuff I'd expect from a Trump tweet.

If "There is some evidence to support that hypothesis", maybe post that and not the pictures.

Apropos of nothing, here's Mig. Experts say he reached peak boring in 1995. Don't accept that that level of boring could cause 7% drop in KSIs? Sad.

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Rich_cb replied to davel | 6 years ago
0 likes
davel wrote:

@Rich: that's a pretty rambling admission that you're arguing ideologically. I'm not saying others aren't doing the same, but posting unrelated graphs does not an argument make - it's the kind of stuff I'd expect from a Trump tweet.

If "There is some evidence to support that hypothesis", maybe post that and not the pictures.

Apropos of nothing, here's Mig. Experts say he reached peak boring in 1995. Don't accept that that level of boring could cause 7% drop in KSIs? Sad.

I don't think you've understood the argument I'm making.

The graphs are the evidence.

The graphs show a cycling specific factor which began to have a significant effect from 1995 onwards.

By comparing the decline in cycling KSIs to pedestrian KSIs and overall KSIs we can be confident that the factor is specific to cyclists.

The challenge is then to identify that factor.

A time trialling Spaniard boring all cyclists into submission is one possibility but another, some might argue more likely, possibility is the rise in helmet use.

The rise in helmet use occurred at the exact same time as the cycling specific decline in KSIs.

You will never be able to definitively prove that helmets caused the decline but you will equally never to be able to prove that they did not.

The weight of evidence currently suggests that helmets were responsible for at least some of the decline in cyclist KSIs.

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