Safety is our top priority at Collierville Speed Team. We require all skaters wear a helmet during practice. It is also required at any competition a skater enters. To understand more about helmet safety, here is some information from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute:

"There are three main types of brain injuries: concussions, contusions and hemorrhages.

Concussions happen when the brain gets "shaken up" and stops working for a while. Usually, things soon return to normal. However, in a severe concussion, permanent damage can occur.

Contusions are bruises caused when the brain hits the rough inside surface of the skull.

Hemorrhages happen in severe cases, when the brain bleeds. If this happens, the brain can get squeezed because there's no place for the blood to go in the closed skull. This internal bleeding can easily lead to death or permanent brain damage, even though the cyclist may seem ok for days or weeks.

In addition, the skull may be fractured. While a skull fracture might not be serious, pieces of bone may pierce the dura and damage the brain.

Because the brain is so important, even mild injuries can cause serious problems. Loss of memory, increased irritability, odd changes in personality, inability to hold a tennis racket... these and many more things can happen to people who hit their heads in a crash.

What the research says

Findings of a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, May, 1989:

Bicycle riders with helmets had...

• an 85 percent reduction in their risk of head injury
• an 88 percent reduction in their risk of brain injury

Conclusion: Bicycle safety helmets are highly effective in preventing head injury and are particularly important to children, since they suffer the majority of serious head injuries from bicycling crashes.

How can bicycle helmets help?

The brain needs protection. When a person rides a bicycle, the best protection comes from a bike helmet.

A bicycle helmet can't keep someone from falling off a bike. It can't keep a car from hitting you. But it can cut the chances of serious brain injury. It does this by cushioning the blow that otherwise would hit the skull and brain in a crash. In doing so, the foam liner of the helmet is crushed between the object (car, curb, roadway) and the rider's head; in other words, it "self-destructs" in order to protect what's inside. The foam in most helmets does not recover. This is why any helmet that has been crashed should be replaced and not used again, even if it appears to be in good shape. There's no way for the user to tell just how much protection is left. (A few helmets made of a special foam called EPP for Expanded PolyPropylene do recover, and can be used again.) We have never heard a rider who trashed a helmet in a crash complain about the cost of replacing it!

We know that helmets do protect. As noted above, researchers say that bicycle helmets could prevent over 85% of all serious head injuries to bike riders. And, since about 75% of all cycling deaths are due to head injuries, helmet use could save many lives each year. That's a worthwhile investment for any bicyclist, young or old."