Leather Motorcycle Gear

How does that saying go?  “You should spend as much on a helmet as your head is worth!”  It goes something like that.  I’ve been reading a lot of conflicting information about the certification standards for motorcycle helmets.  Is DOT-certification (Department of Transportation) or Snell-Certification (named after William “Pete” Snell Memorial Foundation-SMF) the way to go? What do these emblems on motorsport helmets mean?

DOT and Snell assess a helmet by placing it on a dummy head equiped with electronic sensors.  The helmeted head is then dropped from a specified height onto a steel anvil; the sensors record the severity of the impact.  DOT Standards are an outline for manufactures of the minimum requirements for motorcycle helmets and are vertually the same as implemented in 1974.  Snell standards were first establised in 1957 and are re-evaluated and, if need be, updated every 5-years.  US racing organizations require helmets used in competion meet both the DOT and Snell standards.

The DOT motorcycle helmet tests consist of dropping the helmeted head from a height of 6 feet onto a flat anvil and 4 1/2 feet onto a hemispherical anvil.  The helmet is tested two (2) times at four (4) different impact areas.  The DOT DOES NOT test every helmet design.  Manufacturers DO NOT submit their designs to the DOT but are trusted to test their own helmet designs to meet the DOT prescribed standard.  Upon occasion the DOT will perform spot checks.  In 2001 they made spot checks on 40 designs from some big named manufactures and 20% failed.  Is anybody surprised?

While there is no guarantee a DOT-approved helmet has actually been tested by DOT, a Snell-approved motorcycle helmet ensures the design has been evaluated with scruitiny by SMF.  Snell helmets meet or exceed DOT standards.  The Snell tests consists of drops from 10 feet and 7 1/2 feet on both anvils simulating a more severe impact.  Additionally, Snell also uses an edged anvil to test the shell’s integrity.  Manufactures submit five (5) helmets of a particular design.  Four (4) are tested and if the design passes the fifth is saved as a sample and the manufacturer enters into a contact with the Snell Memorial Foundation.

Base on the above you would think Snell-approved would be safest but I also recently read that Snell-approved designs are unrealistaclly high and may be less able to absorb initial impacts.  The U.S. is the only country where Snell-approved is sold and the EU (European Union) uses ECE Reg 22.05 and Britain has the British Standards Institute certification.  Why isn’t Snell-certified acceptable in Europe?

So, what does all this mean?  It means, I’m still confused about which is best.  DOT if designed properly is at the very least the minium acceptable and is a Snell-approved design not able to abosorb impact as well as a good DOT?  One thing for sure is wearing one or the other is a must!!