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Helmet Approvals...
UPDATE: DOT (FVMSS 218) and ECE
22.05
Helmet approvals are to be recognized by the province of
Newfoundland effective June 1, 2009
CLICK HERE for a link to the
province's website, which is our source!
NOTE: These changes are effective June 1, 2009, so there may be a delay in
getting the updated version to the web.
In an email from Carolyn Burggraaf, Registrar of Motor Vehicles, please note
changes to come for licensing and equipment regulations.
I am pleased to advise that Section 44(1) of the
Licensing and Equipment Regulations will be amended to recognize US Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 helmet that bears the DOT symbol as well
as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, ECE Regulations
incorporating the 05 series of amendments, as amended (commonly referred to
as ECE 22.05) bearing the approval mark as required by that regulation.
This amendment will come into effect June 1, 2009.
Carolyn Burggraaf
Registrar of Motor Vehicles
Looks like the province will accept DOT, Snell, ECE, or BSI.
DOT (US Dept. of Transportation FVMSS 218)
You can find DOT approved helmets just about anywhere.
ECE (Economic Commission for Europe):
More commonly found as of late you should be able to find ECE approved
helmets locally.
SNELL Approved helmets should be
found locally with a little looking, if you can't find one locally, the dealers
should be able to order them in for you if you request them. SNELL is still the
helmet approval of choice for Avalon Motorsports.
BSI (British Standards Institute):
Yes, you can find BSI approved helmets here in Newfoundland; I have seen a total
of one helmet out of 300 students in 2008, that had a BSI approval.
So what's the deal with all these helmet approvals anyway?
DOT is the United States
department of transportation, not Canadian. DOT in Canada has nothing to do with
helmets at all. What the DOT sticker means is that the helmet manufacturer
thinks the helmet has met the standards of FVMSS 218 (Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 218) in the United States. Here’s some more info on it ...
With that being said we won’t turn anyone away for using a DOT helmet;
you just have to sign the waiver saying you agree to and if you use a
non-approved helmet you accept all the risk, and the training app also confirms
that you have been informed on what’s approved. However, when you read further
on the differences, I think you would be glad to have a Snell approved helmet.
I did a bit of digging into the helmet approvals, and found some more
information. CSA no longer certifies helmets. Standard D230 hasn’t been revised
and hasn’t been valid since 1985, and is now considered repealed by CSA; so now
we can pretty much take CSA off our list of approved helmets, leaving us with
Snell and BSI. Apparently, at least back in 1985, all the helmet manufacturers
were in the US and figured that it wasn’t worth their time to bother with CSA.
Then there were two. I’ve had a look through the selection of a lot of our
dealerships around town, and have yet to see a helmet with a BSI (British
Standards Institute) approval on it. I suppose it’s more economical to purchase
from helmet suppliers in North America, rather than the UK. Then there were but
one helmet approval standard, the Snell Memorial Foundation, that is valid and
readily available in Newfoundland. (FYI this year, 2008, I did have one student
who had a BSI approved helmet).
I've looked into DOT standards, Snell standards to find out what they are all
about. First of all, DOT refers to the US Department of Transportation. The
equivalent Canadian counterpart has nothing to do with motorcycle helmet
approvals. So what is DOT all about?
There are two organizations setting safety standards for motorcycle helmets in
the United States, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Snell Memorial
Foundation (SMF).
DOT Helmet Standard - The US Department of Transportation (DOT), National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, announced in 1972, a motorcycle helmet
standard. The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 (FMVSS 218), which is
commonly referred to as the "DOT" standard. This standards was taken almost
directly from the 1971 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard
Z90.1.
ANSI revised the Z90.1 standard in 1973. The criteria from the earlier standard
was developed using older methodology. ANSI felt the 1971 standard was too
difficult and added complexity that would not necessarily lead to better
helmets. NHTSA on the other hand, continued with the original 1971 ANSI
criteria. In 1974, FMVSS 218 went into effect.
Beginning in 1974, motorcycle helmets were required to meet the minimum
requirements established by FMVSS 218, the standard detailed guidelines and test
criteria a helmet must pass to receive a " DOT" approval. Over the years, slight
changes have been made to FMVSS 218. However, since 1974 (going on 35 years
later; this page was written in 2008) the standard remains essentially unchanged
from its original form.
DOT Approved Helmets - How can you tell a helmet is DOT approved? Typically a
sticker on the rear of the helmet with the letters "DOT."
How does the DOT monitor compliance with FMVSS 218? Here’s the
kicker! It's based on the honour system? Yes, you read that correct. The
government relies on the manufacturer's word that the helmet was tested and
passed! Does the government do any testing? Yes, they do; very, very limited
testing of helmets. How limited? In 2001, they tested 40 helmets. Under the
honour system, we shouldn't have to test any helmets. What if a helmet fails?
They publish the data and rely on the manufacturer to bring the product into
compliance. In 2001, 20% of the tested helmets failed the performance tests.
Helmets manufactured by AFX, Fulmer, HJC, M2R, NEXL and THH. At a 20% failure
rate, do you think there are others out there that might fail the performance
test?
DOT (FMVSS 218) Standard Summary:
SNELL: Now
let’s look at the Snell Memorial Foundation - The foundation is named after
William "Pete" Snell, a race car driver that died in 1956 of
massive head injuries sustained in a racing accident. His friends and associates
formed the Snell Memorial Foundation (SMF) in 1957, a not-for-profit
organization. The foundation's goals were to investigate and understand the
mechanisms of head injuries in automotive sports and to encourage the
development of truly protective helmets. Today, the SMF tests various kinds of
helmets and certifies them for use in all kinds of activities where a person
could sustain a head injury, from racing, to motorcycling, equestrian,
bicycling, etc. The Foundation is interested in just about every kind of
headgear worn to protect against crash impact injury.
Snell Approval Process - Helmet manufacturers submit their products for
certification. If their helmets pass the demanding series of performance tests,
the manufacturers are invited to enter into a contract with the SMF. The
contract entitles the manufacturer to use the Snell name and logo on their
packaging and in their advertising. The manufacturer also purchases
certification decals for use on their certified products.
Under the contract with the SMF, the manufacturer is required to maintain their
high standards for all of their certified production. Verification is achieved
through a random sample test program. In this program, the SMF acquires helmets
and tests them to certify the continuing quality of the products. The SMF takes
pains to see that these random sample helmets are drawn from the same supply as
those sold in stores; thus they are able to monitor the quality of the helmets
sold directly to the consumer. The SMF maintains a state of the art testing
facility in the US and England.
Snell Standard Summary:
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Updated every 5 years.
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Current standard M2005.
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Extensive testing and research.
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Verification through continuous random testing.
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Certification will be located on a sticker, inside the
helmet, under the comfort liner, right on the impact liner. You may also see
verbiage on the outside of the helmet, but the actual certification is
inside the helmet.
DOT vs. SNELL – Testing:
Both Snell and DOT position a helmet on a test head form and then drop that
helmeted head form onto fixed steel anvil. Impact severity is a matter of head
mass and drop height, the higher the fall or the heavier the head form, the more
severe the impact. Each test helmet is impacted on at least four different sites
against either a flat or hemispherical shaped anvil. The difference between DOT
and Snell tests are impact severity and impact criteria. Snell requires helmets
withstand substantially larger impacts while transmitting less force than DOT.
Unfortunately, it’s not the fall that does the damage, it’s the sudden stop at
the end. Both Snell and DOT measure the suddenness of the stop with an
accelerometer fixed inside the head form. When the helmet smacks into the anvil,
the accelerometer measures the head form deceleration throughout the duration of
the impact event. This acceleration pulse is generally plotted as G’s versus
milliseconds. The testers analyze the acceleration pulse to determine whether
the helmet passed or failed the test. Snell and DOT use different methods to
analyze the results.
Snell limits the peak value to no more than 300 G’s. Dr. George Snively, one of
Snell’s founders, had determined on the basis of his own research that young
adult men could survive head crash impact accelerations at levels between 400 to
600 G’s. He selected test criteria on the order of 300 G’s for the Snell
standards as acceleration levels that would be safe for almost all healthy
people.
The DOT Standard requires that the peak acceleration not exceed 400 G’s but they
also put duration limits on the acceleration pulse. The period of time for which
the pulse exceeds 200 G’s must not be longer than 2 milliseconds. The period of
time for which the pulse exceeds 150 G’s must not be longer than 4 milliseconds.
A duration criterion was taken from the 1971 ANSI Z90.1 standard. This criterion
was dropped by ANSI in 1973 prior to the DOT standard going into effect.
DOT vs. Snell – Verification: To receive the Snell certification, a manufacturer
must submit five helmets of a particular style. Of them, four are destroyed in
testing and one is retained as a reference. If the helmet passes and the
manufacturer enters into a contract, the helmet is certified. Then the SMF
regularly buys samples of the helmet to test for continued compliance with the
standard.
The DOT certification is done on the honor system. The helmet manufacturer
determines whether their helmets satisfy DOT requirements and then claim the
qualification for themselves. There is no reporting or proof of testing
required. The government does conduct very, very limited spot checks at
commercial and private labs.
DOT vs. Snell Bottom Line: The DOT standard is by no means a bad standard, Snell
is simply better. Snell uses harder impacts while requiring lower forces to the
rider; the “Snell Approved” helmet exceeds the DOT standard. Every day we are
reminded in the news that a corporation was less than truthful; why would
helmets manufacturers be any different? The DOT standard relies 100% on the
integrity of the manufacturer. The Snell standard uses continuous random
sampling.
If you want to be sure that your helmet meets the DOT standard, get a Snell
certified helmet. A Snell sticker is your best assurance that the helmet meets
both Snell and DOT. Without the Snell certification, it’s a gamble that the
helmet meets any standard at all.
Without objective monitoring, the honour system is prone to serious problems. If
you are not convinced, ask anyone you know that owns any Enron stock. When
considering your next helmet or evaluating your existing one, consider the
facts. If you read this far, you are better prepared to evaluate motorcycle
helmets based on safety standards. In addition to helmet approvals you should
carefully consider helmet fit. All manufacturers and Snell agree that the
correct fit is critical for a helmet to perform properly.
Through conversations with CSA, I’m shocked to learn some of the states are
considering repealing helmet regulations due to pressure from users groups who
want to be able to wear the “Hell” helmets for fashion rather than wear a real
safety helmet at all. I hope that never happens in Canada. I have done some
research on some of the other provinces and I have found that other provinces do
recognize the (DOT) sticker, and other variations of the sticker, such as FVMSS
218. Also, some provinces, such as Quebec don’t mention the standards, but
rather they have a specific list on helmet manufacturers and models listed for
each manufacturer which are approved; if your helmet is not on the list, it’s
not approved. Talk about confusing.
There’s an expression when it comes to motorcycle helmets. “$50 helmet, $50
head”. Why not make sure you invest in a quality, approved, and tested helmet?
ECE and BSI
more info to come!
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