We have had a few helmet discussions on this forum over the last couple of years and some of us including myself were alarmed that there was a gap between manufacturing standards required by Snell and Australian Standards (AS1698) and real safety design. The point of contention for me was the density of the foam lining which cushioned the head from a severe blow. I have just come back from a couple of months in Australia and while there a new type of helmet design was being featured in the RACQ magazine “Road Ahead (Apr/May) and “Two Wheels” (March). It won the 2007 Invention of the year on the ABC New Inventors show and is also in the running for the “Next Big Thing” award. I have the “Two Wheels” article on a PDF file with pictures and would be happy to send it to anybody but I can’t figure out how to post a reference to it here without including the whole article. This is how the article starts; “Imagine a motorcycle helmet that can significantly reduce the chances of brain & head injury in an accident. A helmet with an inner lining that acts like the crumple zones in a car, progressively absorbing impact forces from head movement. A helmet whose lining offers specific impact absorption rates in different areas, to protect the weakest parts of the skull”. The Conehead helmet has been developed over a period of 20 years by Brisbane physicist Don Morgan. I have been in contact with Don because I am in the market for a new helmet and he is happy to supply any information. He says they should be on the market around the end of this year. You can vote for Dons invention at the “Next Big Thing” awards on this link; http://www.nextbigthingaward.com/ This link is about the New Inventors award; http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2007/11/cra ... ntion.html Cheers, Peter
