Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1063250
W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G "If neck braces significantly increase safety, I definitely will start using one." Neck-Brace Effectiveness Study A lot to be said here in criticizing this study. Not to say they are in- correct in regurgitating data but the narrow focus and some comments really show bias. Example: the "horrific fallacies" list has elements of truth in some of the claims; restriction of ROM (range of motion), of course, limit- ing ability to look up as far. And there are some not mentioned potential downsides—sternal injury and shoulder injury. And can we know if these braces cause more minor injuries? If C-spine injury is the only real focus/injury then, yes—the devices help prevent those. But can we really know about minor injury? Or what about thoracic spine injury? If you knew you were 10 times more likely to have a minor injury every time you fell while wearing a brace, would you accept that in exchange for the knowledge gained in this study? Maybe. Cervical spine injury is our worst fear. Interpret the data for yourself, but I would certainly want to test run a brace with many considerations other than those few posed here. Lance Gorton This is great info. If neck braces significantly increase safety, I definitely will start using one. How- ever, one thing I don't see in the article is any information on what percentage of total riders use neck braces. If 50 percent use braces and 50 don't and the injuries are far more prevalent among non- wearers, then hell yes that's con- vincing. But if five percent of riders wear braces and 95 don't, that's a completely different story. Micah Crown-Hunt It's not the percentages of injured riders we need; it's the percentage of uninjured riders we need. If only one percent of riders are wearing them (which is about right in a lot of places) then it appears to be making injury 50 times more likely. If only one percent of riders aren't wearing them (which is also right in a lot of places) it makes injury 1/50th as likely. But given that some communi- ties do wear them and some don't, then it says more about relative injury rates between say woods vs. MX or snowmobiles vs. ATV. It's interesting but it doesn't tell us anything. Jason Rogers I am sorry but this report is less than scientific. Where's the corre- lation coefficient to show strength of cause and effect? And even then, it doesn't prove anything. Even in the best of designs, there is never conclusive evidence that one thing causes another, only that there is relational strength and weakness. Or, no correlation at all. I am for all the safety in the world but the more safe you feel, the more likely you are to engage in unsafe behavior. It will be al- most impossible to know whether neck braces are truly making rid- ers safe because no one will ever be able to design a study that first has a large enough sample and can be replicated. Carl Spicer I've been using Leatt for over eight years now. I refuse to ride without one; it's saved me in many occa- sions! Matty Blayden Brewer We took real patient contacts to give you real world numbers, nearly 10,000 riders is a pretty decent sampling. Yes, there are other fac- tors, dirt conditions, the age of the rider, so many variables it's nearly impossible to answer all the ques- tions and refute all of the naysayers on multiple forums. Some of the reasons we have overheard for not wearing a neck brace are based on fallacy and the experience of one rider told over and over. This study was to give you guys information to at least look at a product that has changed exponentially for the better in the last few years. It all boils down to educated choice, if all goes as planned, we hope to work with manufacturers to improve their products to improve fitment. We hope to provide riders the opportunity to try and be fitted for a device so they can draw their own real-world conclusions. We feel any opportunity to let some- one get hands-on with a product that promotes safety is a benefit to an industry we are so passionate about. We love your passion and your comments both positive and negative and they will only help us grow to improve our data collection as our company grows. Action Sports EMS Letters to the editor can be sent to voices@cyclenews.com. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Letters should not exceed 150 words and are subject to editing. Anonymous letters won't be considered for publication and each letter should contain the writer's name, address and daytime phone number… Editor P6 CN III VOICES