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New research from Imperial College London has found that, on average, collapsible (sometimes called "foldable") bicycle helmets provide lower levels of protection against serious head injuries than noncollapsible helmets.

The paper is published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention.

However, the researchers found nothing inherent in collapsible helmet designs that would prevent them from being further developed to become as safe as conventional designs in the future—evidence suggests lighter-weight alternatives with added rotational protection technologies would substantially improve head injury outcomes for riders.

Although the study showed varying levels of protection for different helmets, all helmets included in the study met the minimum regulatory standards for safety, and evidence shows that wearing any helmet provides better protection than not wearing a helmet at all.

Collapsible helmets are increasing in popularity because of their portability and convenience, particularly suiting users of bike-sharing programs such as Santander, Lime and Forest. Their price, however, is often higher than that of conventional helmets: collapsible helmets purchased for this study cost £101 on average, compared with £64 for conventional helmets.

The study is the first to compare the protection offered by collapsible foam helmets and conventional helmets. , to simulate the most common head impacts that cyclists experience during a crash.

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