With the temporary loosening of the policy and the collapse of the helmet market, some car owners think that the speed of electric vehicles is not fast, and wearing helmets to block the line of sight is more likely to be dangerous. Is that true? Actually not. Recently, helmets have become the most popular commodity instead of masks. "I used to ignore you, but now I can't climb up" is the deepest feeling of electric vehicle users on safety helmets some time ago. Driven by the new policy, electric vehicle safety helmets have seen a demand gap of nearly 200 million, and the price has also ushered in a sustained surge. However, the good times did not last long. Just a few days after the price rise, suddenly the sharp fall was hit back to its original shape. How many truths and problems are hidden behind the nearly crazy helmet market? How should the general public respond?
Crazy Helmet
For the safety of electric vehicle and motorcycle riders, on April 21, the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security decided to launch the "One Helmet One Belt" security guard action from June 1, which directly became the trigger for the soaring price of helmets.
Electric vehicle helmet : Chicken ribs or life saving charm?
The price of helmets soared with policy support
On an e-commerce platform, the search volume of the "helmet" keyword in May was 8 times that of the same period last year, and the turnover increased by nearly 400% year on year. When the helmet is on fire, the routine of frying the helmet follows.
One of the routines is to increase the postage. Some businesses attract customers with low price diversion, but the order shows high freight; The second routine is to claim that the order is sold out, delay the delivery, and take the opportunity to raise the price; The third routine is to sell dog meat by hanging sheep's head. When you place an order, you are wearing a helmet, but when you arrive, you are wearing a helmet; What's more, they have played a fraud by directly collecting money instead of delivering goods. A group of profiteers seem to have smelled the business opportunity, and they are eager to copy the successful experience of hyping masks and forehead temperature guns in an attempt to earn another wave of gold.
Electric vehicle helmet: chicken rib or life saving charm?
300 thousand to buy helmets but receive 1800 helmets
On May 20, the Ministry of Public Security required that the price chaos of helmets should be strictly investigated according to law, and the illegal chain of driving the price of helmets up should be cut off, and it was clear that from June 1, the scope of law enforcement punishment should be limited to riding a motorcycle without wearing a safety helmet; The act of not wearing a safety helmet while riding an electric vehicle will not be penalized temporarily.
The loosening of the policy has brought about the collapse of the helmet market. Businessmen are afraid of being investigated by the Market Supervision Administration and dare not commit crimes against the wind, so they have to lower the price of high priced helmets. Helmet speculators also paid a heavy price, competing to clear the inventory, and a large number of helmets flooded into the market at a time, causing a further slump in prices.
It is estimated that this time, many people will meet on the roof.
Safety helmet, the rider's life preserver
With the temporary loosening of the policy, some car owners think that the speed of electric vehicles is not fast, and wearing helmets will block the line of sight, which is more dangerous. Is that true? Actually not.
Experimental data show that even if a person falls to the ground while sitting on an electric vehicle, if he accidentally lands on his head, he will hit the ground at a speed of more than 10 kilometers per hour, which is enough to cause skull fracture, or even direct death if serious.
In addition, for bicycles with lower speed per hour, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina all have legislation requiring riders to wear helmets, while France and Sweden require children riding bicycles to wear helmets.
At present, China has no requirements on whether to wear helmets on bicycles, but wearing helmets when riding can effectively reduce risks, and it is better to wear helmets, especially for children.
So, how does the helmet play a protective role?
In general, the greatest danger that riders may encounter is the impact on the head and neck of human body caused by a powerful collision immediately after the accident.
The safety helmet is mainly composed of two important parts: the helmet shell and the buffer layer, and the protection of the human brain is mainly achieved by these two parts.
Through the comparison of the following three pictures, we can clearly see the main working principle and importance of motorcycle helmets: the solid shell can withstand strong external force impact to avoid serious injury to human body caused by external force (especially sharp objects); The buffer layer is equivalent to the shock absorption device at the front end of the train, which can greatly absorb the impact force and reduce the damage caused by impact.
Electric vehicle helmet: chicken rib or life saving charm?
Simulated helmet protection principle: A no protection, B buffer layer, C buffer layer+shell (to block sharp objects)
According to the statistics of the public security department, in the traffic accidents involving two wheeled vehicles such as motorcycles and electric vehicles, the death rate of brain injury is as high as 80%, and safety helmets can prevent 85% of head injuries. The report of the World Health Organization shows that wearing helmets correctly can reduce the proportion of injuries by 70% and the mortality rate by more than 40%.
However, these safety data are based on the quality and safety standards of helmet products. If the helmet itself is a low-quality product, its protection to the human body will be greatly reduced, and even cause additional damage.
Electric vehicle helmet: chicken rib or life saving charm?
Life saving helmet
Choose the right helmet and don't make do with it
In the face of high priced helmets, illegal businesses have a crooked mind and sell helmets instead of safety helmets. But can helmets replace helmets? How to choose helmet correctly? What are the good helmet materials?
First of all, from the structural point of view, the safety helmet is composed of a helmet shell, a helmet lining, a mandible belt, a back hoop, etc; Motorcycle helmets are generally composed of shell, buffer layer, comfort pad, wearing device, goggles, etc. The two are different. In terms of performance, helmets have requirements for head protection zone, vision and goggles performance; The safety helmet has no such requirement. In terms of weight, most helmets are about 400g; Most helmets are more than 1 kg.
Helmets are mainly used to protect the top of the head against damage caused by falling objects. The helmet can protect the top, front and side of the head. Therefore, wearing a helmet cannot completely protect the helmet.
According to the announcement issued by the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China, from November 1, 2017, the mandatory product certification management was officially implemented for motorcycle passenger helmet products. Since August 1, 2018, motorcycle helmets without CCC certification shall not be delivered, sold, imported or used in other business activities.
However, at present, there is no national standard for electric vehicle helmets, and there is no basis for market supervision and law enforcement. However, while speeding up the formulation of national standards, the market supervision department may refer to some existing industry standards and motorcycle helmet standards for supervision.
Before the introduction of helmet standards for electric bicycles, everyone should give priority to motorcycle helmets with CCC certification and helmets made of wear-resistant and impact resistant materials.
At present, the materials of high-end helmets on the market are mainly ABC plastic, PC+ABS plastic alloy, fiber reinforced plastic, carbon fiber, etc. In general, the strength and toughness of these four plastics are gradually increasing, and the density is getting lower and lower. Of course, the price is also getting higher and higher.
However, it is unnecessary for electric vehicle owners to choose helmets with very high-grade materials. For example, Kevlar, which is widely used in carbon fiber helmets, is made of similar materials. Although it is light and strong, it is relatively expensive, so it is unnecessary to use it in daily life.
Moreover, in other words, there are thousands of roads, safety comes first, driving is not standard, and relatives are crying. Despite the safety of helmets, e-bikes still need to travel in a civilized manner, strictly abide by the traffic rules, and do not occupy the road, overload, reverse travel, and change lines at will. This is the most reliable guarantee of safety.
