From: behanna@phoenix.syl.nj.nec.com (Chris BeHanna)
Subject: Re: Fatal motorcycle accident in Untersiggenthal
Organization: NEC Systems Laboratory, Inc.
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 92 15:34:48 GMT

In article <11SEP199203543231@erich.triumf.ca> ivan@erich.triumf.ca (Ivan D. Reid) writes:
>In article <1992Sep10.151523.14838@research.nj.nec.com>, behanna@phoenix.syl.nj.nec.com (Chris BeHanna) writes...
>>In article <9SEP199222121286@erich.triumf.ca> ivan@erich.triumf.ca (Ivan D. Reid) writes:
>>>	On Tuesday night, the well-known television personality Louis
>>>Castellazi died of injuries sustained earlier in a single-vehicle accident in
>>>my village.  He was 35.  He was also the son of my landlady.
>>>[...]
>>>The second
>>>concerns what type of helmet he was wearing; given a postulated speed of 80 km/h
>>>(the norm in a 60 zone) I would be surprised that he would sustain severe head
>>>injuries if he was wearing a good full-face helmet.  Given the chest injuries,
>>>perhaps he hit with his chest first and then took an upwards blow on the chin
>>>from the lamp-post.
>> 
>>	Even helmet manufacturers admit that at impact speeds greater than
>>15 mph (that's 24km/h--yes 24!), a fatal shock can be transmitted to the
>>wearer.  Not a helmet flame, but at a speed as high was 80km/h, no helmet in
>>the world will save your life if your head strikes a solid object at such a
>>speed, unless you're damned lucky.
>	My major experience was landing head-first at about 110 km/h.  Admit-
>tedly into soft ground so I was lucky.  Since then, I probably have a higher
>regard for modern helmets than most people (after all, that 15 mph figure has
>been floating around since, what, 1975?).

	It is still, unfortunately, a relevant figure.  That's 15mph for
direct impact.  Your head-first landing had a horizontal component of velocity
of 110km/h, but the vertical component was much, much lower.  Say your head
fell from the height of about a meter (you seated on your bike).  Then the
vertical component of velocity that the helmet saved your brain from was about
16km/h, well under the 24km/h figure that gets bandied about.  The helmet
also saved your head from getting scuffed up during the 110km/h to 0 process.
This is one reason why I get very nervous about not wearing a helmet on the
street--if I go down at any appreciable speed and slide on my head, I'd rather
wear away fiberglass than my skull.  I still ride bareheaded on occasion, but
it's only fun for awhile, then I start to think about what might happen, and
I start enjoying it less and worrying more, so I pull over and put the lid
back on--enormous boost of confidence instantly.

>	I have been able to determine that Castellazzi had indeed just
>"graduated" from a 125 to the 600.  The best hypothesis seems to be that
>inexperience on such a heavy, powerful bike was a major contributing factor
>in the accident.

	I wouldn't blame the bike.  I'd blame the inexperience of the rider
first.  Infamiliarity with equipment is no excuse the blame the equipment.
It's still a shame, any way you look at it.  There needs to be some
"international MSF" or something like it.

Soberly,
-- 
Chris BeHanna	DoD# 114  KotHLF    1983 H-D FXWG Wide Glide (She lives!)
behanna@syl.nj.nec.com	            (I need another bike for this space!)

Disclaimer:  Now why would NEC agree with any of this anyway?