SAFETY HELMETS Sat,—Surely on this occasion Dr. Ritchie Russell's challenge
and offer cannot go unheeded. He has for many years given convincing evidence that helmets for motor-cyclists are essential, and should be made compulsory. Personally, I prefer to call them 'crash helmets,' and thereby place the emphasis on danger, but that is not so important as the fact that the majority of people, more especially the young, are better `visualists' than 'auditives.' They would there- fore be much more impressed by the grim evidence which the film would provide.
In war time, for obvious reasons, little or no pub- licity was given to the misfortunes of our despatch riders, but I remember vividly in early 1942 visiting a ward of some seventy beds in an East Kent hospital where the majority of occupants were in various stages of mutilation due entirely to misadventure with their lethal weapon—the motor-cycle. Indeed, at that time and later, it was customary to refer to the vehicle as 'Hitler's secret weapon.'
It is unlikely that Dr. Russell will be short of the unhappy material for the film he suggests; probably it would be best in the first instance'ff the convincing truth emanated from one centre, provided that it was emphasised that corroboration could also be readily produced from other medical centres up and down the country.
In Edinburgh, no less than in Oxford, this problem has concerned us for years, and we would be only too willing to contribute to the lead that has always been so ably advocated by Dr. Ritchie Russell.— Yours faithfully,
JAMES K. SLATER
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