Wearing a high quality helmet properly may have saved Alexander Brown's life - even though it cracked when the 17-year-old's head smashed into a wall after he lost control of his motorbike.

And now Alexander is joining with Road Safety Council chairman Dr. Joseph Froncioni to call on motorcycle riders to make sure their helmets are safe.

Mr. Brown was travelling towards Dock Hill in Devonshire on the evening of February 26 when he said he put his back brakes on to slow down before taking the corner.

The brakes locked and he lost control of the bike, hitting the wall. "I don't really know (what happened)," he said. "The bike went out from underneath me, I can't remember which way I fell.

"I got up, I was crying ... there was a Rastafarian guy sitting on the wall, he helped me out."

The man got Mr. Brown a towel for his head, which was bleeding, called 911, and kept Mr. Brown talking, asking him information about himself and his parents. A doctor driving by also stopped to help.

Despite having a broken leg and a fractured skull, Mr. Brown was able to stand and talk.

"I was pretty scared," he said. "I didn't feel that much pain until I actually got to the Emergency Room - the shock and all."

The hole in his head was large enough for the doctor to put two fingers inside as he was rushed to the hospital.

"He stuck both his fingers in to see if there was any gravel or dirt, or if the brain was swelling," said Mr. Brown , who was still awake at the time but did not feel it.

At the hospital, it was discovered that his skull had a stable fracture, like a china plate that has been cracked through but is still holding together. His femur was also sliced off at the bottom and had displaced around to the back of his leg and slightly up - an unusual fracture which Dr. Froncioni told the family must have been caused by a "phenomenal" force.

And the gash to Mr. Brown's head, which was at first thought to have been caused by something going inside the helmet, was in fact caused by nothing more than the sheer force at which Alexander's head collided with the wall.

"He had a deep gash, right down to the bone, we could see his bone," said Alexander's mother, well-known PALS nurse Anne Brown. "His skin had split like a ripe tomato under the helmet.

"Dr. Froncioni told us in no uncertain terms if he hadn't had this helmet on, he'd be dead."

Dr. Froncioni said that not only was Mr. Brown wearing the helmet, he was wearing it correctly.

"Had he been wearing his helmet tilted back with his entire forehead exposed, like a lot of girls do who wear their hair in a bun under their helmets, he would be dead."

"Helmets are supposed to break in a certain sense," said Dr. Froncioni. "(That mr. Brown's helmet cracked) does not mean the helmet failed."

In fact it was later discovered that Alexander's helmet did exactly what it was supposed to do as it absorbed the impact of the blow.

"My husband actually apologised to Alexander because we gave him a really hard time about buying that helmet," said Mrs. Brown. Although he had bought his own bike, she explained, it was she and her husband who bought the helmet - a Nolan, which at a price tag of $240 is one of the most expensive on the Island.

"But we're glad he got his own way on that one," said Mrs. Brown.

Not everyone wears expensive helmets, however, and not everyone wears their helmets properly. Dr. Froncioni, who is concerned about standards of helmet care in Bermuda, said: "The way helmets work is they absorb energy, hopefully all of it, in an outer plastic layer and an inner foam liner."

While pedal bike helmets are made to shatter as a way of absorbing energy, motorbike helmets are made to be a little stronger.

"The outer shell is meant to stop penetration ... the main job of a helmet is to spread the pressure of the impact over a large area."

Like anything else made of plastic, however, helmets deteriorate, he added.

"In general, the rule of thumb is to replace your helmet every three years."

It is not true that a helmet is destroyed if dropped if you put stickers on it, he said. However such factors over time, along with exposure to the sun and even oils from your head will all contribute towards a weakened helmet.

"If it's older than three years it should be thrown in the garbage."

Unfortunately that is often not the practice, with people saving older helmets for friends or younger siblings.

"You shouldn't do that," warned Dr. Froncioni. "You never know when a helmet may not do its job."

For the same reason, said Dr. Froncioni, a helmet worn during an accident should be thrown in the trash immediately afterwards and never worn again.

"Always. You don't know if it will work again," he said.

With helmet prices ranging from $30 to $3,000, Dr. Froncioni said: "Unfortunately the reality in Bermuda is that your average kid is using a helmet that costs less than their school shoes.

"Helmets should be as shiny, brand new and expensive as possible," he said. "The most popular helmets kids buy in Bermuda are the cheapest. For me, in an affluent country like this, it is irresponsible for parents to allow their children to ride with cheap helmets."

Mr. Brown, who is home from the hospital but will spend two months on crutches after which he can begin physical therapy, is living proof that the price of his helmet was money well spent.

"They (young people) all speed, they all laugh about it and everything, but just try and be careful, wear your helmets properly," said his mother.

And Mr. Brown pleaded with riders: "Go slow, drive carefully, get a good helmet."