>THEY DON'T TEST THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AIRBAG IMPACT
>WITH AN OPEN FACE HELMET VS. A CLOSED FACE HELMET!
I think your shouting of that sentence is completely appropriate.
To discourage the use of closed helmets in airbag-equipped cars without a
comparison of closed-helmet performance vrs open-helmet performance in
airbag-equipped cars seems unbelievably ill-advised.
I'd love to hear the input of the Snell Foundation on this. This memo
essentially implies that the impact protection of the chin area of closed
helmets is less than zero. I have an extremely difficult time believing
this.
Have there been any incidents of air-bag deployment while the driver was
wearing a helmet?
Which kind of helmet?
What happened?
I think these are the kinds of questions that need to be asked and answered
before turning the safety requirements for Solo2 upside-down.
For the record:
I use an open helmet.
I have never owned a car with an airbag.
I have autocrossed in borrowed airbag-equipped cars.
I have never been in a car when the airbags detonated.
I am not currently a member of SCCA and therefore have no standing to write
the BOD or anyone else about this. On the other hand, they can't kick me
out of the club for commenting.
Phil "absolutely astonished" Ethier
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