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+--- Thread: Motorcycle Helmet Standards and general pricing (/thread-45.html)
Motorcycle Helmet Standards and general pricing - Cableguy - 03-29-2011
Brief discussion on 3 standards (DOT, SNELL and ECE)
Pricing starts at:
- DOT - Department of Transportation ~$59
SNELL - Snell Memorial Foundation ~$160
ECE - United Nations Economic Commission for Europe ~$179
Motorcycle helmets greatly reduce injuries and fatalities in motorcycle accidents, thus many countries have laws requiring acceptable helmets to be worn by motorcycle riders. These laws vary considerably, often exempting mopeds and other small-displacement bikes. In some countries, most notably the USA and India, there is some opposition to compulsory helmet use; not all USA states have a compulsory helmet law.
Worldwide, many countries have defined their own sets of standards that are used to judge the effectiveness of a motorcycle helmet in an accident, and define the minimal acceptable standard thereof.
The Snell Memorial Foundation has developed stricter requirements and testing procedures for motorcycle helmets with racing in mind, as well as helmets for other activities (e.g. drag racing, bicycling, horseback riding), and many riders in North America consider Snell certification a benefit when considering buying a helmet while others note that its standards allow for more force (g's) to be transferred to a rider's head than the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) standard. However, the DOT standard does not test the chin bar of helmets with them, while the Snell (and ECE) standards do.
The ECE 22.05 standard is used in over 50 European countries, including Germany, a country known for taking a hard line on personal protection. Helmets certified to the ECE 22.05 standard are approved for competition events by AMA, CCS, FIM, Formula-USA and WERA and are chosen by nearly every professional motorcycle racers competing in world championship road racing, motocross and off road events, including the ultimate sport of Moto GP. Helmets that are certified to both DOT and ECE 22.05 offer the highest level of realistic protection with the added benefit of light weight for day-long comfort and rider performance.
Standards Testing:
Most motorcycle helmet standards use impacts at speeds between 4–7 m/s (9–16 mph). At first glance, this is confusing given that motorcyclists frequently ride at speeds higher than 20 m/s (45 mph). This confusion is relieved by understanding that the perpendicular impact speed of the helmet is usually not the same as the road speed of the motor cycle and that the severity of the impact is determined not only by the speed of the head but also by the nature of the surface it hits. For example, the surface of the road is almost parallel to the direction the motorcyclist moves in so only a small component of his velocity is directed perpendicular to the road while he is riding. Of course, other surfaces are perpendicular to the motorcyclist's velocity, such as trees, walls and the sides of other vehicles. The other vital factor in determining the severity of an impact is the nature of the surface struck. The sheet metal wall of a car door may bend inwards to a depth of 7.5–10 cm (3.0–3.9 in)ch) during a helmeted head impact, meaning that it generates more stopping distance for the rider's head than the helmet itself. So a perpendicular impact against a flat steel anvil at 5 m/s (11 mph) might be about as severe as a 30 m/s (67 mph) oblique impact against a concrete surface or a 30 m/s perpendicular impact against a sheet metal car door or windscreen. Overall, there is a very wide range of severity in the impacts that could conceivably happen in a motorcycle impact. Some of these are more severe than the impacts used in the standard tests and some are less so.
Standard Comparisons on SNELL web site (SNELL 2005, DOT, BSI, EN)
http://www.smf.org/docs/articles/mcomp2
Watch video "How Helmets are Tested in Snell Labs" Here
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_helmet#Standards_testing
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-helmets/ece-22-05.htm
Re: Motorcycle Helmet Standards and general pricing - racerboy88 - 06-25-2011
Good advice Bernie.
I never understood why riders would put their helmet on the tank.
I always put mine on the ground beside my bike.