" En g i n e e r ing-Med i c a l An a l y s i s o f Fatal and Non­

Fatal Head Injuries of Helmeted Motorc yc l e

Vic t i m s ''

I n troduc tion

Man y inve s t igato r s have repor ted on the t o l e r an c e l e ve l s of

the human head to s ta t i c and impac t loadingtThe i r data are b a s e d
upon inve s t igat i o n s o f l o ad i n g o n unembalmed a n d embalmed cadav­
e r s , p r ima te s and v a r i o u s headforms . Pro te c tive he lme ts are be ing
d e s igned , b a s ed on such data .

Thi s paper presents one of the s tud i e s in o u r program o f in­

v e s t ig a t i ng fatal a n d n o n - f a t a l motor c y c l e a c c iden ts from wh ich
head i n j u ry data might be d e r ived , and a s eve r i ty index cou ld be
e s tab l i shed and c o l l ated wi th the s tu d i e s of o ther i nv e s t i g a to r s .
We a l so s o l ic i t f r om med i c a l examine r s , n eu r o l og i s ts , n e u ro­
s u rgeo n s , and o th e r p e r sonn e l invo lved in a c c iden t work to send us
med i c a l and engineer ing repo r t s and he lme t s o f we l l documented
he lmeted motor c yc l i s t a c c iden ts . Our procedure is to c o n d u c t a
p r o g r am o f impac t l o a d i n g s on he lmeted i n s trumented headforms i n
an attempt t o s imu l ate the i n j u r y p r o d u c i n g phenomena thus obtain­
ing a mea s u r e of the forc e s and e n e r g i e s tran s m i tted i n to the head .

Acc i d e n t De s c r ipt i o n

A br i e f d e s c r ip t i o n of the a c c iden t d a t a w i l l i l l u s tr a te the

factual bas i s for the engineer ing c a l c u l at i.on s . Th i s case is in­
te r e s t ing f r om many a sp e c t s in that parame te r s o f veh i c l e , environ­
men t a n d r id e r comb i n ed t o produc e th i s a c c iden t . Th i s i n c iden t
i nv o l v e s a s in g l e vehi c l e , a moto r c yc l e wi th s id e c a r (pas s e n g e r
w a s r id i ng p i l l ion , n o t i n s i deca r ) . The s id e c a r had r ec e n t l y
been a t t ached t o the motor c y c l e . Expe r ie n c ed r id e r s r e p o r t that
the hand l i ng char ac te r i s t i c s of a motor c y c l e changes c on s id e r ab l y
w i t h s u ch an add i t i o n . In an eme rgenc y s i tua tion , an inexp e r i e n c ed
r id e r c an come to g r ie f . The r id e r and h i s p a s s e ng e r wer e b o th
par t- time barmen a t a l o c a l pub and had l e f t work j u s t a f ter 1 1
p.m. I t was rain ing . Another ba rman , in his c a r with two p a s sen ­
ger s , had left the pub park ing area j u s t ahead of the motorc yc l e .
On the roadway , b o th veh i c l e s p a s s e d a s l ower mov i n g c a r and then
the moto r c yc l e r id e r p a s sed h i s c o l l e ague ' s car on the sho r t
s tr a i ght-a-way and remained o n the o f f s id e a s h e wen t in to the
l e f t-hand bend at a speed o f between 5 0 - 60 m . p . h . Thi s speed was
agreed upon by the c o l league and the dr i v e r of the o th e r s l ower
.
moving c a r , which had been over taken . The m o t o r c yc l e did n o t ap­
pear to go i n to the bend , bu t c o n t i nued on a s tr a i ght path ,
s t r ik i n g the k e rb and mounting the v e r ge . I t c o n t inued on a
s t r a i gh t path on the verge until i t c ame i n to c o n t a c t w i th a chain

(*R e f e r e n c e s 1. - 12. )

345
l ink f e n c e wh i ch began to r ed i re c t i t coun t e r - c l ockwi s e . Spark s
we r e s ee n in the darkne s s . The moto r c y c l e c o l l ided w i th , knocked
down and ove r - r od e a concrete fence po st and c o n t i nu e d to pene trate
the f e n c e and f i e ld for another twelve f e e t , coming to r e s t abou t
one f o o t sho r t o f the next conc r e te pos t .

The helmeted rider o f the motorcyc l e had been p r o j ec ted

through the a i r and h i s head s t r uck a c o nc r e te f e n c e po s t , imrne­
d i a te l y ad j ac e n t to the n e xt - i n - l i n e po s t . The f o r c e o f the im­
pact r o tated th i s po s t in the d i r e c tion of motion of the r i de r ,
about 4 5 ° and h i s body l anded abo u t five feet f u r th e r . The
p i l l ion pas senge r , who was n o t wea r ing a h e lme t , was a l s o pro­
j ec ted through the air and landed about twelve f e e t f u r ther in the
s ame d i r e c tion of moti on . The h e lmeted r i d e r was dead of s e v e r e
c r an i a l i n j u r i e s and the unhelmeted p i l l io n p a s s e nger s u rvived w i th
on l y a f r a c t u red r ight femu r .

E n e rgy C a l c u l a t i on s

F ig u r e 1 shows the s e v e r i ty o f the damage to the h e lme t .

The wi tne s se s ' s t a teme n t s s u g g e s t an upper speed l im i t o f

5 0 - 60 m . p . h . when the veh i c l e l e f t the roadway . Upon c o n t a c t w i th
the v e rge and f e n c e t h i s speed wou l d be reduced s o that the v e l oc ­
i ty of the two bodies wou l d be less upon leaving the motorcyc l e .
First the p i l l ion pas s e n g e r was pr obab l y s l owed down when h i s r i gh t
femur was fractured . It is l ik e l y tha t th i s o c c u r r ed dur ing h i s
initial f l ight , upon con tac t w i th the chain l i nk fenc e . He wou ld
l e ave the mot o r c y c l e from a g r e a t e r e l ev a t i o n than the r ider , as
the rear o f the v eh i c le bucked - up . Hi s f l ight path i s a s s umed to
have r e ached a greater e levat ion ; he c le a r e d the c o n c r e te fence
po s t ( a s s umed 5 feet e l e v a t i on ) . His to t a l f l ight pa th was ap­
proximate l y 29 fee t , b e g i n n i ng at the first s e v e r e d e c e l e r a t i on
o f the moto r c y c l e whe n i t s tr u ck the con c r e te f e n c e pos t . A s s um­
i n g n o a i r f r i c t i o n and a par abo l ic f l i gh t path , the speed ( af t e r
fractur ing femu r ) is c a l c u l ated to have been approximate l y 28 l/s .

S im i l ar l y , if we a s s ume that the r id e r ' s body had s tarted h i s

f l ight path a t the same ang l e as the p i l l ion pas s e n ge r and s t r uck
the fence post at an e le v a t i o n of abo u t four feet and the b e g i n­
n ing e l ev a t i on from mo tor c yc l e s e a t of abou t 2 1/2 f e e t , w i th a
body we i ght o f approxima t e l y 18 2 pound s , the v e l oc i ty a t impac t
is e s timated a t 2 3 l/s . Th u s the f l ight path of the p i l l io n pas­
senger and that o f the r id e r result i n c l o s e ly agr e e ing v e loc i ty
c o nd i t i on s .

C o r o ne r ' s Repo r t

The b o dy wa s that of large , we l l deve l oped young man show­

ing m u l t ip l e lacerations on the face and lower l ip s w i th b r u i s ing
and abr a s i o n s around the l e f t eye . The r e wa s a l a c e r a t i on on the
outer s ide of the l e f t knee and a sma l l abr a s ion on the r i gh t knee .

Head . The sku l l showed a long v e r t i c a l fracture running from the

l e f t f o rehead down in to the base of the skull on the t i gh t s ide
and a s e r i e s of basal f r a c t u re s .

The b r a i n showed s u pe r f i c i al haemorrhage and c o n t u s ion .

Te s t P r ogr am

E i gh t helmets of the s ame man u f a c t u r e we r e purch a s e d for th i s

p r o g r am . The s e wer e mounted on r ig id l y supported beechwood head­
forms and s ub j e c ted to increas ing i n c rements of impa c t e n e r g y . A
swingaway he lmet t e s ting appa r a t u s ( 1 3 ) w a s u t i l i zed in th i s pro­
g r am . I n o r d e r to p r o v i d e a g r e a t e r number of te st b l ows , each
h e l m e t wa s impacted a t the s ame ang l e , o n c e w i th a frontal and o n c e
w i th a rear attack . The se h e lm e t locations are suffic ien tly sep­
a r ated so that the r e s u l t i ng d e c e l e r ation curves are not s i gn i f i ­
c an t l y location s e n s i t i ve . F ig u r e 2 shows the damages produced by
one of the s e t e st s . A d e c e l e r a t i on - t ime r e c o rd was provided by an
a c c e l erme te r mounted on the drop h amme r and anc i l la r y amp l i f i er s ,
o s c i l l o s cope and po l ar o i d c ame r a .

Expe r imen t a l Re s u l t s

Table 1 lists the series of tests conduc ted , the d r op he ights

and force s transmitted . F ig u r e 3 is an exampl e of the dec e le ra­
t i on - time curves r e corded by the po l a r o i d c ame r a attachment to the
o s c i l l o s cope .

I t was found tha t the helmet she l l " b o t tomed-o u t " on the r ig id
b e e chwood headform preven ting the d e v e l opmen t o f the s e v e r e frac­
ture pattern d i sp l a y e d by the a c c i de n t h e lme t . The r e fo r e , the
beechwood head form w a s c u t back and r e l i eved by a 2 1/2 inch de­
p r e s s ion . The test r e s u l ts i n d i c ated a mo :r:: e severe fracture pat­
t e r n at the impac t capac i ty o f the apparatu s , but again the she l l
had 'bottomed - o u t " . The depre s s i o n was c omp l e te l y c u t away , per­
m i t ti n g a maximum she l l movement of about 1 inch ( from the normal
c on to u r of the headform) . The r e s u l t s of the s e impa c t s i n d i c ate
the b e g i n ni n g of a f r a c t u r e pattern , s im i l a r to the ac c id e n t h e l ­
me t . Howe ve r , the maximum impa c t e n e rgy o f the appara t u s w a s n o t
s u f f ic ie n t to induce f u r th e r s im i l i tude of fracture pattern .

The te s ting p r o g ram was s t a r ted wi th the energy load spe c i f i ed

by the min imum spe c i f i c a ti o n s BS2001 and i n c r e a sed u n t i l reaching
th e c apac i ty of the appa r a t u s .

347
D i s c u s s ion

The experimental d i f fi c u l t i e s involved the bottoming- o u t o f

the h e lm e t she l l o n the beechwood headform . F lexible p l a s t i c head­
forms are now b e i n g deve l oped in an a t tempt to more n e a r l y s im u l a te
the d e forma t i o n s and mechan i c a l prope r t i e s of the human sku l l .

The o r e t i c a l engineer ing dynamic c a l c u l at i on s r e q u i r e the a s ­

s ignment o f a n approp ri a te m a s s t o t h e k in e t i c energy equat ion .
The s imp l e s t c on s ide r a t ion would be to a s sume that the ma s s o f the
head was attached to a f l exible neck and o n l y thi s mas s p l u s that
of the he lmet wa s involved in the energy c a l c u l at i on s . Th i s r e ­
s u l ted in much t o o low a n energy v a lu e . I f one r e ad s the c or o n e r ' s
repo r t , i t wi l l be s e en that there we r e " a s e r i e s o f b a s a l frac­
ture s " . This would indicate that s ome o f the ma s s o f the t o r s o
wa s also involved in the energy t r an s fe r .

Thu s it is nec e s s a r y to have both the engineer ing and med i c a l

d a ta , wh ich then m u s t b e v e r i f i ed by the experimental p r o g r am .
 TABLE 1

He ad- S tr ik e r Drop Impac t Po s t ion Peak P e ak trans-

Helmet S i ze form conf ig- Ma s s h e i gh t Ene r gy of r e c orded m i t te d force
no . s i ze uration lbs . (f t . ) f t . lb s . blow 'q' (lbs . f)
l 3 7 3/8 Flat 11. 0 14 . 0 154 F ro n t 900 9, 900

2 3 7 3/8 Flat 11 . 0 18 . 0 1 98 Rear 838 9.220

3 3 7 3/8 Flat 22 .0 14 .0 308 F r on t 7 10 1 5 . 62 0

4 2 7 Flat 22 . 0 22.0 484 Front 1010 2 2, 220

4 2 7 Flat 22 . 0 22.0 484 Rear 1010 2 2, 220

l 3 6 1 4_
/ Flat 22 . 0 22.0 484 Rear 680 14, 960

5 2 6 1/4 F l at 22 . 0 23 . 0 506 Front 886 1 9 . 4 90

6 2 6 1/4 Flat 22 . 0 23 . 0 506 Front 948 2 0 , 8 60

6 2 6 1/4 Flat 22 . 0 23 . 0 506 Rear 996 2 1 , 910

5 2 7 Flat 22 . 0 7 154 Rear 214 4 . 710

3 3 7 F l at 22 . 0 14 308 Rear 510 11. 2 2 0

7 2 7 F l at 22.0 23 506 Front 1040 2 2,880

7 2 7 F lat 22.0 23 506 Rear 98 5 2 1 , 670

w
�
U>
 F I GURE 1 - ACC IDENT HELMET

F I GURE 2 - EXPERIMENTALLY IMPACTED HELMET

 r - ·· · ·--- -- .

�I
1
:

„
1
-,

r·-··

F IGURE 3 - DECELER.ATION - TIME CURVE FOR

EXPERIMENTALLY IMPACTED HELMET

Scale s : Ho r i zontal - 10 u n i t s/ms

Ver t i c a l - 10 u n i t s/ 5 0 0 g

3 5 1
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