Do children on motorcycles need special crash helmets?

Ong WY¹, Radin  Umar RS¹,Harwant Singh²

1. Road Safety Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia

2. Orthopaedic Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia

Correspondence: Dr Harwant Singh; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CITATION: Ong WY, Radin Umar RS, Harwant Singh. Do children on motorcycles need special crash helmets? International Medical Research Journal. 2000;4(2):97–8. 

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ABSTRACT

The motorcycle is the most common mode of transport in Malaysia. It is also used to transport children to and from school, and as a general mode of transport. Most fatalities among motorcyclists in Malaysia are due to head injuries and the use of crash helmets has reduced this outcome. This is a preliminary report on the need for special crash helmets for children in Malaysia. Data show that the use of non-specialised helmets for children (who frequently use play helmets or adult type helmets) has no significant difference in injury outcome when compared to adults, in whom the wearing of helmets influence outcome. This suggests that there is a need for special crash helmets for children

KEYWORDS: child, head injury, crash helmet