Soft Shell Cycling Helmet for Head Protection

Heimdall Protective Tech, with its Mass Impact Technology has a unique, flexible plastic shock absorbing material. This project will apply this bespoke technology as an insert to create a protective soft shell helmet for use in cycling and other NMT.

**Head protection is a fundamental need which we are addressing.**

The safety of cyclists is of paramount importance where there are more accidents and injuries compared to other forms of transport, recognising head injuries and skull fractures as the most difficult fractures to deal with.

Traumatic brain injury costs a total of £15billion nationally every year according to research published by Centre for Mental Health.

With healthcare costs for head injuries and using scarce resource, increased wearing of protective headwear will reduce strain and unnecessary cost to our NHS during testing times e.g. Covid-19 outbreak or similar pandemics.

Through prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation, this transformational product could meet an essential safety requirement, highlighted by COVID-19, **but most importantly applicable to general societal needs which have dramatically increased as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic**

Getting this product to market and increasing protective headgear wear will reduce injuries

The new protective headgear will have a beanie style and address several different needs in these modern times:

1\. Traditional cycling helmets are rigid '1 hit designs' and should be replaced after a collision or if dropped with enough force to cause structural damage (ROSPA). This is a multiple impact product which can be used time and time again.

2\. It is flexible and foldable, ideal for the recreational and commuter cyclist market as well as the NMT.

3\. It is machine washable, enabling cleanliness and freshness as well as killing microbes, preventing infection spread

4\. The soft shell helmet is a less bulky, more pleasant, comfortable and affordable product in the marketplace whilst still maintaining and indeed enhancing high levels of protection

5\. ROSPA and Cycling UK believe that enforcing cycle helmet wear will discourage cycling. Some of the resistance to wearing helmets is the aesthetic and bulky nature of current helmets

6\. A beanie style is a more attractive option for younger cyclists, skateboarders and a conventional hat style suitable for all ages, rather than the bulky solid shells currently available

7\. The cycle beanie is 100% recyclable, whereas traditional solid foam helmets are not. The plastic is a virgin product, reusable for the purpose it was manufactured. The fabrics use no solvents or adhesives and can be recycled in the same way as other fabrics.