About Snell and D.O.T.  (Read about the BSI standard)

Head injuries account for the majority of serious motorcycle accidents. Head protection is critically important. As you try to select from among the many brands of motorcycle helmets available, you may find the claims confusing.

It's easy enough to choose between colors and styles, but the real purpose of a helmet is to protect your head in an accident.

The best helmet may not guarantee survival in all accident situations, but on the basis of ongoing research done by the Snell Memorial Foundation since 1957, a Snell certified helmet is indisputably better in severe impact conditions, than one not meeting this standard. In fact, Snell requirements are among the most stringent in the world, much more so than the legal D.O.T. standards.

To receive Snell certification, helmets are tested in four performance areas; Energy Management, Environmental Resistance, Retention System, and Quality Control. Snell tests the helmet's ability to shrug off all the things likely to happen to it prior to, and during, an actual crash.

Snell constantly selects samples (at random) in the marketplace of certified helmets to test for compliance with the standard. On the other hand, helmets meeting only the minimum D.O.T. (Department of transportation) requirements can be self-certified by the manufacturer, with possibly no outside testing, which can lead to wide discrepancies in performances.

Think about it, if you're going to wear a helmet at all, doesn't it make sense to wear one that meets the best standards available - SNELL.

SNELL M2000 Standards for Motorcycle Protective Headgear

There are three reasons for you to be interested in this standard:

1. The use of motorcycles and other motorized vehicles impose a risk of death or permanent impairment due to head injury.
2. The proper use of protective helmets can minimize the risk of death or permanent impairment.
3. The protective capacity of a helmet is difficult to measure, particularly at the time of purchase.

Four of the most critical elements that SNELL tests for are:

1. Impact Management:
   How well the helmet protects against collisions with large objects.
2. Helmet Positional Stability:
   Whether the helmet will be in place on the head when it's needed.
3. Retention System Strength:
   Whether the chin straps are sufficiently strong enough to hold the helmet throughout a head impact.
4. Extent of Protection:
   The area of the head protected by the helmet.

In order to continuously monitor the quality of helmets being sold to the public, Snell purchases and tests samples of currently certified helmets from the marketplace. These helmets are tested only in Snell labs by Snell technicians. Should a currently certified helmet fail, the helmet manufacturer must take corrective action to Snell's satisfaction.