Head Injuries in Motor-cyclists. The Importance of the Crash Helmet

During the first twenty-one months of war the number of motor-cyclists and pillion passengers killed on the road was 2,279-21 % more than during the corresponding months of peacetime (1,884 killed between September, 1937, and May, 1939). The frequency of head injuries was high (Table I), and in a number of cases the fatal outcome might have been avoided if adequate protection for the head had been worn. But, as will be observed, the issue is not clear-cut, since multiple injuries other than head injuries undoubtedly contributed to death, though to what extent cannot be defined. The second section of this paper deals with such material as it has been possible to collect relating to non-fatal head injuries to motor-cyclists; the third briefly indicates some of the causes of accidents, and offers suggestions for prevention and for protection to the heads of riders by the general use of crash helmets of a type described. In conclusion, 7 cases, seen by me, are reported of non-fatal injuries to riders wearing crash helmets, and evidence is adduced to show that in most of them graver injuries would have been sustained without such protection.