The HEAD Lab team at Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College, is honoured to receive a Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in recognition of the Hiper helmet rating programme. 

Cycle helmets all pass a basic safety standard, but some are better than others at protecting the head and brain from injury. Surprisingly, the cost (anything from £30-300) is not the best way to tell.

Hiper is a bicycle helmet rating system built on state-of-the-art research in brain injury biomechanics. The HEAD lab team use a testing rig to simulate head impacts under real-world impact conditions. They make this information available to the public on their website while engaging with the manufacturers.

This has prompted retailers to lower the prices of their better-performing helmets, while manufacturers have sought to innovate their designs for improved safety performance. In long term, this will reduce head injuries in cycling incidents. In making his award, The Prince was impressed by the way Hiper addresses a significant need to provide better consumer information around safety performance of cycle helmets; the academic rigor and the engagement with industry make this an outstanding nomination