Cycling as a mode of transport is not without its risks, even in Europe where there is a long tradition of cycling and an emphasis on road transport safety. As recently as 2010, 2,100 cyclists were killed in traffic collisions in the 24 EU countries. While this number has been reducing since 2001, cyclists are particularly vulnerable to head injuries and understanding the extent to which helmets actually protect is of vital performance. While some studies have demonstrated the ability of cycling helmets to protect in non-collision accidents, its performance in more hazardous traffic collisions is not obvious. An inability to obtain kinematic data proved to be a limitation of previous research into this topic. Recent developments in computer based numerical modelling have, however, enabled traffic collision events to be reconstructed and the associated kinematics to be analysed. They have been used in a limited capacity to date, and have not been used so far to examine the kinematic effects of wearing a helmet. This dissertation describes a unique approach to this major societal problem through using numerical simulation to reconstruction 37 car-cyclist fatal collisions that occurred in Ireland between 1998 to 2008. (Author/publisher)
Abstract