Forget your bike helmet? No worries, this paper one will do the job

Bike-sharing programs aren’t an uncommon sight in many major cities, but renting a ride often comes without one major accessory: the helmet.

Isis Shiffer, who recently graduated with a master’s degree from the Pratt Institute of Design, had a solution for bikers who might not have their own headgear on hand — a disposable EcoHelmet, made of collapsible cardstock paper that can be reused or recycled at the end of a ride. The helmet, which relies on a waterproof and accordion-like structure to protect the rider from any impacts, won the James Dyson Award this week for its innovative design.

“We have these fantastic [bike-hire] schemes all around the world and if you want to wear a helmet you either have to bring your own or spend quite a bit of money,” Shiffer said to the Guardian. So she decided to craft a cheaper and more portable alternative, she added.

"It is so solid and everyone who had held it in their hands is surprised about how solid it is," she told the BBC.

Shiffer’s design is itself made of recycled paper and uses its honeycomb-like cells to absorb shocks, according to the helmet’s website. While a student, Shiffer tested the design at the Imperial College of London’s crash lab, and the helmet’s website asserts the design “absorbs blows from any direction as effectively as traditional polystyrene.” The proposed waterproof coating can last in rain for up to three hours and will eventually have an indicator to indicate when it should be recycled and replaced, Shiffer told the Guardian.

The James Dyson Foundation, which granted the $45,000 award, praised Shiffer’s design for its “incredibly elegant” approach to the problem of helmet use. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, more than 800 bicyclists died on American roads in 2015.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 5:53 AM with the headline "Forget your bike helmet? No worries, this paper one will do the job."