

this paper pulp bike helmet can save your life
‘paper pulp helmet’ by tom gottelier + bobby petersen + ed thomas
all images courtesy tom gottelier + bobby petersen + ed thomas
developed as collaboration between designers tom gottelier, bobby petersen and ed thomas from the royal college of art in london, the ‘paper pulp helmet’ is exactly as its title states; a moulded protective bike helmet made from discarded newspapers. the potential life-saving accessory has been conceived to be produced in large scale batches using minimal amounts of energy, with the concept proposes to be dispensed in conjunction with the barclays bike share system. costing just under one british pound to produce, the scheme helps encourage safety among cycle hire users and presents an alternative solution for protecting one’s head in the case of an accident.
the moulded protective bike helmet is made from discarded newspapers
video courtesy bobby petersen
the potential life-saving accessory has been conceived to be produced in large scale batches using minimal amounts of energy
the concept proposes to be dispensed in conjunction with the barclays bike share system
detail of the helmet mould
process – applying the recycled newspaper pulp
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it can save your life… but so can half a watermelon… both look equally stupid!!
come on!!
Sexy!
Way the go! Thats a great way to avoid people from using the bicycle share system “i´m not wearing that… oh well, I guess i´ll just walk”, lol.
It still messes up your hairdo you just paid £70 for at Toni & Guy.
Nitwits like the models will still wear it improperly and leave their foreheads exposed, frontal lobotomy anyone?
The front strap needs to wrap farther forward to pull the front down to protect the forehead.
Interesting idea, but, what happen if rain?
Such a pity that these ingenious and talented designers didn’t bother doing any research about cycle helmets before they embarked on this wildest of wild goose chases. Bike share schemes are incredibly safe wherever they have been implemented, so they have invented a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist. The London scheme is no exception, and the person who was so unfortunately recently killed, was in collision with a truck and no helmet would have made the slightest difference.
Mass helmet wearing is not associated with improvements to cyclists’ safety, and the biggest ever research project found a small but significant increase in risk with helmet wearing. Regular cyclists, those most exposed to the risk, live longer and are fitter, healthier and slimmer than the general population, so it is more dangerous not to ride a bike than to ride one.
The only proven effect of helmet promotion and laws is to reduce the number of cyclists, who then lose the health benefits, so the overall effect of this and other helmet promotion schemes is very large and completely negative in health terms, not to mention congestion, pollution, road danger, sustainability etc.
Sorry tom gottelier, bobby petersen and ed thomas, you do need to check your facts before wasting all that time and talent inventing something that not only doesn’t work, but makes the situation worse.
You can check out the facts at cyclehelmets.org
Without extensive research using impact studies and actual people- this helmet reads as a self involved exercise in “green design” and an aesthetically under developed one at that. Design without the validation of research is tantamount to vanity.
does it really protect your head as much as a regular helmet?