Good thought
cafetools - BUT - that is where the
CE certification comes in. This device HAS been tested and it HAS found to perform properly. Soooo....I think that the question you have raised, has a response. Also, 25 MPH is around 37 ft/sec. which, I'd bet would feel pretty danged fast if you bashed into something hard, and of course, you usually do not get much of choice about what you hit or when it might happen.
The older folks among us will remember when seat belts became mandatory in cars around (I think) 1969. There was a hue and cry throughout the land about government interference with individual freedom and people would jump and down and say
"But what if my car goes off a bridge - I'd be trapped by the seat belt!"
>> Responses from safety engineering experts:
- "No - you wouldn't be trapped by the seat belt.
- If your car went off a bridge and you were still conscious, you would simply undo the belt after you hit the water and be grateful that you hadn't bashed your ribs in on the steering wheel or your head into the windshield or dashboard when your car dropped 15 or more feet from the bridge deck.
- If you were unconscious, you (hopefully) would come to when the cold water got to you and you'd get going before you drowned - but at least your legs, arms and head would still function so you would have a chance.
- Besides - how many times has your car - or that of anyone you know - gone off a bridge in the last 20 years?"
Similarly with ABS brakes and enhanced stability & control systems (ECS): people on bike and car websites will swear up-and-down and sideways that they can react
"faster and better than any ABS or ESC system".
>> Responses from safety engineering experts:
- "No - you cannot. These systems respond in milliseconds and they keep responding at a frequency of several hundred or more hertz - which is far beyond what any human could ever do."
The point is that while it
is good to question advertising (and I certainly
do), the people who design this stuff ain't stupid and they have tons of resources at their disposal to get it right -
PLUS - the safety certification outfits like UL, CSA, CE, DIN, NHTSA, SAE, DOT, SNELL, DNV, TuV, ASME.....blah, blah, blah - make certain that the product
does work properly and that it
does what it is supposed to do,
when it is supposed to do it. The key is to buy a certified product and not some piece of crap that Gomer and his cousin Cletus cooked up behind the barn.
Anyhow - I'm not trying to start an argument - but the question of whether they work or not is simply not debatable, based on the facts.
The real questions, at least as I see it, are:
- which ones are most comfortable (riding a bike should not be torture);
- which ones provide the best possible protection and;
- which one(s) provide the best balance of price to protection.
Any advice / reviews / experience from forum members would be most welcome.
Cheers,
Pete