Imagine that you drive a car straight into a building at 40 mph. Despite airbags and seatbelts, you’d probably feel lucky to be alive. But when an NFL wide receiver meets a safety head-on, we expect them both to get back up to play second down.
What’s the difference?
“In a car crash, you stop in a matter of feet. In an NFL impact, you stop in inches,” one expert tells me.
In the eyes of physics, a big hit on the field can be just as devastating as a car crash--or in many cases, worse. We’re expecting a mere 1.5 inches of foam and candy shell to decelerate a player’s head gently enough to prevent their brain from bouncing around inside their skull and causing poorly understood, but permanent and devastating injury. After talking to some of the brightest minds in helmet design, helmet testing and football physics, the elephant in the room became clear: A concussion-proof helmet is a pipe dream. If the NFL wants concussion-free football, they’ll need to redesign football.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Why NFL Helmets Will Never Be Concussion-Proof | Co.Design: business + innovation + design
