The fit, finish, comfort, ease of use, and feature set of a helmet can all play into the overall safety of the rider. A lighter or quieter helmet can help reduce rider fatigue, and a helmet with fog-free optics can improve visibility. These features may reduce the likelihood of an accident in the first place. Fitment is especially important! In fact, all four testing bodies make it a point to note that they test on properly fitting headforms. If your helmet does not fit properly, its ability to manage impact energy will be compromised.
That just about does it for helmet safety standards If you need a hand deciding what helmet certification best suits your needs and your riding style, you can always drop us a line. We will be happy to use our noggins to help protect yours! Navigation Menu. Wish List. Please reference our International Shipping Policy for details. International Shipping Policy. Self-Service Returns. Doesn't fit? Don't love it? Return any unused item within 90 days for a full refund.
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ZillaCash Silver. ZillaCash Gold. These realistic human head forms make the tests more accurate. The helmet is placed upside down at an angle of degrees with a head form inside it. Testers then use a mechanism with weights and a wire rope to flip the helmet over.
The helmet can move around to some extent, but it must remain on the head form to pass the test. This is a rigorous test of the chin strap, which must hold a weight for a long enough time without breaking or stretching much.
First, the strap must hold a kilogram weight for 30 seconds, and then it must withstand a falling kilogram weight. If the strap stretches by more than three centimeters, it fails.
Helmet safety standards require a helmet to have a strong and shock absorbent chin bar that can handle having a weight dropped on it.
Many tests drop a five-kilogram weight on the chin bar, which cannot deflect much, or else the helmet fails. A helmet must pass at least one penetration test for the shell and another penetration test for the face shield. The shell penetration test is similar between different test programs.
Testers drop a three-kilogram striker on the helmet. The face shield penetration tests can vary quite a bit. For example, in the Snell certification, they fire a pellet from an air rifle at the face shield to see if it penetrates.
The face shield must be able to stop a lead pellet traveling at kilometers per hour. Since the Snell Foundation puts the helmets through more tests than the DOT does, it is harder to meet their standards. A helmet that boasts Snell and not only DOT certification is a helmet you can trust. The ECE also exposes helmets to solvents that may weaken the helmet and make it fail its tests.
As helmets come in different sizes, the ECE always tests the size of each helmet that is most likely to fail. The ECE also tests more than one helmet in each production run. The ECE is thorough enough that even safety stickers are tested to see if they reflect enough light.
The ECE penetration test is rigorous as the ECE tests many different parts of the helmet to see how well it stands up to impact in different places on the shell.
The chin guard is tested against impact as part of the penetration tests. The ECE tests also involve testing the chin strap by using a testing machine to jerk the helmet backward, with the helmet passing if the strap does not break or fall off. The ECE also tests the face shield for durability and whether it interferes with vision.
The BSI is a separate British certification that is less well-known but still relevant. Some of the measurements that the BSI considers minimum for a helmet to pass are the same as what the Snell Foundation uses. With SHARP tests, a customer can differentiate between the best helmets and those that are merely good enough.
SHARP impact tests occur at three different speeds. The helmets are tested against pointed as well as flat surfaces. Because of the quality of the tests performed and the star rating system, the SHARP system might be the best.
You may be able to use the SHARP ratings to differentiate between two helmets that both pass another test. FIM must approve any helmets used in the world championship level races.
Helmets in Europe are more likely to have ECE stickers. They are optional higher-end tests. In the United States, the Snell certification is the current favorite for high-end helmets and racing helmets. Many companies also make slightly different helmets for the European market and the North American market. A helmet sometimes needs to be changed to pass different testing standards. The two standards are not interchangeable — at least in theory, it is not legal to sell a helmet that is certified by the ECE but not by the DOT in the United States.
Since riders cannot be expected to wear absurdly thick and bulky or unreasonably expensive helmets, stricter standards are not always better. The typical rider would not be willing to pay the price of an FIM-certified helmet. One could argue that the standard American DOT standards are too lenient and should be made stricter.
A significant flaw in the DOT certification is that manufacturers can test their own helmets themselves and state they meet the standard. This is not true for Snell Foundation tests, which are never done by manufacturers. Manufacturers being allowed to test their own helmets could create the risk of less than objective results. On another level, it is not necessarily true that DOT standards are too lenient.
If a company tests their helmets honestly, a bad helmet will fail a DOT test. Motorcycles are almost always more dangerous than cars, even if there are many ways to reduce the risks. Riders die in a much higher percentage of accidents than in automobile crashes. While people can recover from broken bones, a brain injury can be permanent.
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For a helmet to pass DOT standards, they must pass the following tests: They drop the helmet into a round anvil on a 1. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.
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