Quote Originally Posted by ductape View Post
The helmet hitting the handlebar probably prevented a broken neck. The next morning couldn't have been a good one for the operator.
The tree appeared to be maybe 12 feet/~3.6 meters high. The helmet is about 5 feet/1.5m. A free fall calculator suggests that the top of the tree hit the person at about 14 mph, or 22.5 km/h. Impossible to determine how solid the rotted tree was, but some may agree that this was not the best way to make it fall down.
Not just how rotten but how wet! If it had been rainy for some time before, that tree could have been much heavier than a live one! It hits the front of the helmet which snaps his head down very quickly which could cause dislocation or fractures to the cervical spine. This one could be a lot worse than it looks...