Transport: if the motorcycle helmet saves lives, it is thanks to Lawrence of Arabia
Audio 02:32
A full face motorcycle helmet helmet (Shark S800 Butterfly) © Ŵishmaster / wikimedia.org
By: Marina Mielczarek
7 mins
It is a transport story little known to the general public.
That of a movie hero who has yet saved and who still saves the bikers of the planet!
Before becoming a spy in the Middle East, Lawrence of Arabia was a young traveling historian.
Without his passion for cycling and then motorcycling, there would have been no compulsory helmet wearing.
Publicity
Before the motorcycle, it was the bicycle that Thomas Edward Lawrence popularized.
And it was in France that he made his biggest tour: 4,000 km in two months, July and August 1908.
To celebrate his 20th birthday and write his school thesis, the future British army officer sets out in pursuit of medieval castles on an English bicycle. Handlebars turned upside down and fragile tires - it will burst 70 times during its journey. Guy Penaud, author of the book
Le tour de France
by Lawrence d'Arabie, recounts:
“The bicycle of the young Thomas Edward Lawrence, a student of medieval history, was a Morris bicycle, a famous English brand with a downward facing handlebars and three gears. He was an atypical boy, like his bicycle by the way ... Vegetarian, great sportsman, he could not stand crowds or dogs! In the letters he sent from France to his mother, he spoke of his anger against his animals which ran behind his calves! From village to village, he wanted to discover the castles of the southwest and especially in the Dordogne department. "
Today, the Dordogne Tourist Office takes advantage of Lawrence of Arabia's stories to encourage cycling.
Transport that is good for tourism, good for health and good for nature.
Lawrence of Arabia's motorcycles are less interesting for the environment than his bicycle, but oh so decisive for humanity!
Died at 46 on a small British road
The story is tragic: it is at the age of 46, while going to post a telegram that Lawrence of Arabia kills himself on a famous English model of the Brough brand.
The surgeon in charge of the body does not recover.
For him, the accident could have been avoided with a protected head.
The army is convinced.
Motorcycle helmets, before being generalized, will be compulsory on the two wheels of British soldiers.
Surgeon Hugh Cairns will pioneer the use of compulsory helmets.
Helmet compulsory in France since 1973, and still not generalized in the United States
Today under the French flag, the motorcycle company Brough honors its hero Lawrence of Arabia, Albert Castaigne is one of the directors:
“
The motorcycle is unfortunately very accident-prone.
The head weighs very heavy and with speed it is impossible in case of shock to maintain it, it falls first.
Even at low speed you can fall very badly, it is well known among bikers.
We can say that the English were the fastest to impose it on their roads.
France waited until 1973 despite the large number of bikers in the 1960s. But what about the United States, the land of freedom, it was not until the 1990s to impose helmets.
But today, it seems incredible, in 3 states, Colorado for example, you can drive without a helmet!
",
In a month, the
Lawrence Brough
, one of Lawrence of Arabia's 7 motorcycles, redesigned in lightweight aluminum will come out of the workshops.
The supply is limited since there will only be 1888, like the year of birth of TE Lawrence.
Cost of the machine: 66,000 euros.
Brough Superior SS10 Alpine GS 1927, the motorcycle of the adventurous "Lawrence of Arabia".
Marc Verney / RFI
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