very cool feature. The industry should take a serious look at this and consider making it a standard feature. Did Arai patent it? I thought i read somewhere that they were not going to patent the idea, specifically so that other helmets manufacturers could adopt the design for safety.
If they can standardize the system between all the manufacturers and get training material to EMT crews it would defintaely benefit the riders.
Yup, that's what came to my mind as well.......... E.Q.R.S. (Emergency Quick Release System) Mechanical tabs disengage cheek pads for easy removal by emergency medical personnel. Helmet can be removed with minimum load to rider in emergency situations.
Arai put there's on the Corsair V, then Shoei follwed on their lids. Shoei has red tabs on the bottom of the cheekpads that are visible, whereas the orange straps are tucked away on the Corsair V bwtween the shell and cheekpad. It can be pulled down into view, but could be missed if still tucked away.
It is def more obvious on Arai's MX lids. Might be worth putting a sticker or something on the side when racing that their are safety tabs inside. If I recall Aria has several patents that they don't enforce so other folks can use them to enhance the safety of their own helmets. I know they invented that cap you put inside, and allow all sorts of folks to OEM them.
It works too, though the Arai version took a little more tugging to get the cheek pads out. So long as one medic is holding the helmet still while the other pulls at the tabs, cervical spine stability shouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, this feature is only available in the top-of-the-line helmets from Arai and Shoei. Anyone care to speculate as to when it'll come down to the cheaper models?
RF-1100 doesnt have it, but Arai's new RX-Q (Quantum 2 replacement) should come with the Q/R cheekpads as well, but not really sure how much "cheaper" it's actually gonna be :up:
I took the EMT version of the Motorcycle Accident Scene Management class this past January, and they had a couple of helmets like that for demos. We did a compare/contrast removing those and conventional helmets - the new ones with the tabs were much easier to remove. But they still stressed that the only time you remove the helmet is if the victim isn't breathing.
These are all get advancements in rider safety. Im still HOPING that someone can figure out a way to provide us with some sort of neck protection that will still allow us to get into a tuck. I actually tried the Leatt Brace but did not have near enough mobility.
I did say top-of-the line helmets. And yes, you too have been clued in on the RX-Q - ha, that ryhmes. Get those TL-R photos?
The Arai XD I bought almost three years ago has those cheek pads as well. Don't know if they just gave me an upgrade when fitting the helmet or not, but the tech has been out for a few years now.
