HPRL HISTORY

HPRL has existed as a scientific laboratory at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for the previous twenty years, in the Department of Safety Science at the university. The laboratory was organized by Professor Harry Hurt, the senior member of the Safety Science faculty, to do research in motorcycle and bicycle accidents and to evaluate the performance of motorcycle and bicycle helmets in accidents. Many major research projects were conducted at the University of Southern California by the development of a "multidisciplinary accident research methodology" with application to aviation accidents, then traffic collisions involving automobiles, trucks, pedestrians but mostly motorcycles and bicycles. Within this history of safety research at USC, major developments occurred in head protection technology.

Modern head protection technology originated in the 1950's at the University of Southern California with the pioneering research of Charles F. Lombard and Smith W. Ames, who were developing a new generation of flight helmets for the United States Air Force. During this extensive research with many human subjects, many important principles of head protection technology were established, and Dr. Lombard patented the unique energy absorbing helmet design which was applied not only to aviation but automobile racing, motorcycles, football, hockey, etc. The Lombard helmet patent revolutionized head protection and brought a new era of safety in transportation and sports. Professor Hurt was a student of Professor Lombard and an associate of Dr. Ames, and continued this research in head protection and motor vehicle accidents, as well as sports and recreation. As a career tenured faculty member at USC, Professor Hurt's teaching and research included: a) methodologies of aviation accident investigation for the U.S. Air Force and Navy (1950's), b) multidisciplinary accident research for NHTSA/DOT (1960's), c) landmark research in motorcycle and bicycle accidents (1970's) and d) establishment of the Head Protection Research Laboratory (1980's). The work of Professor Hurt and his colleagues has been widely recognized as the premier resource for motorcycle and bicycle accident research and head protection technology.

With the retirement of Professor Hurt from USC, HPRL was organized as a separate but essentially identical tax-exempt, public-benefit organization so that the same important research could be continued in the same way as at USC. It was organized as a California corporation, #1778963, on February 23, 1996, and was assigned an IRS Tax Identification Number of 95-4574493. HPRL is qualified as a tax-exempt, public-benefit organization under IRC 501(c)(3) with an IRS determination letter issued November 27, 1996 and later an approval at the end of the Advanced Ruling Period by an IRS letter dated 1 June, 2001. On July 1, 1998 all HPRL laboratory scientific and testing equipment was moved from the USC campus to the newly remodeled location in Paramount, California. This new location is just a few miles east of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) near the intersection of the Century (105) and Long Beach (710) Freeways. In this way, HPRL will continue the same research as when at USC but with improved facilities and expand its commitment to research in motorcycle and bicycle accidents, and the performance of protective headgear in those accidents.

 ©1998-2007 Head Protection Research Laboratory. Webmaster: Jay W. Preston