The Snell Memorial Foundation is a
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
created to provide a high quality standard of safety for
helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...
s. Founded in 1957, the foundation is named after William "Pete" Snell, a popular
sports car
A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
racer who died in 1956 of head injuries he received when the racing helmet he wore failed to protect his head. A group of friends, scientists, physicians, and others joined together to create a group that would promote research and education as well as test and develop standards to improve the effectiveness of helmets.
Standards
*B-95
Bicycle helmet
A bicycle helmet is a type of helmet designed to attenuate impacts to the head of a cyclist in falls while minimizing side effects such as interference with peripheral vision. There is ongoing scientific research into the degree of protection ...
s
*B-95C Children's bicycle helmets
*E2001
Equestrian helmet
An equestrian helmet is a form of protective headgear worn when riding horses. This type of helmet is specially designed to protect the rider’s head in the event of falls from a horse, especially from striking a hard object while falling or bei ...
s
*H2000
Harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...
helmets
*L-98
Moped
A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typic ...
s and Low Powered Vehicles
*M2015
Motorcycle helmets
*M2020 Helmet Standard for Motorcycling
*N-94 Undefined or general use helmets used in sports and industry
*RS-98 Recreational
Skiing & Snowboarding helmets
*SA2005
Auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
helmets
*SA2015 — 2015 Helmet Standard For Use in Competitive Automotive Sports
*SA2020 Helmet Standard for Automotive Sports
*K2005
Kart racing helmets (same as SA without the need for
fire retardant
A fire retardant is a substance that is used to slow down or stop the spread of fire or reduce its intensity. This is commonly accomplished by chemical reactions that reduce the flammability of fuels or delay their combustion. Fire retardants m ...
fittings)
*K2010 — 2010 Helmet Standard For Use in Kart Racing
PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
files of current and past Snell standards are available on the Snell Web site.
Tests
To qualify for Snell certification, the helmet must pass a series of tests. The tests are determined depending on the application and the requirements of the standard.
Safety
Snell Standards significantly surpass those set by the
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...
(DOT), the
American National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organi ...
(ANSI),
ASTM International (ASTM) and the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's 16 CFR Part 1203. Industry consensus standards such as ASTM and ANSI, and government mandatory standards such as ECE, DOT and CPSC, are all minimum standards. Snell Standards are voluntary and call for premium level of protection in headgear while satisfying the minimum requirements set for different jurisdictions. Research shows that in higher severity tests, the DOT-only helmets transmitted significantly greater shocks than Snell certified helmets.
Snell Standards are updated about every five years. These updates are based on new scientific research and improved, available manufacturing technologies. As such, and in addition to other factors such as typical use wear and tear, Snell recommends that helmets be replaced approximately every five years to ensure good safety.
For motorcycle safety Snell standards are inferior to ECE and FIM equivalents, they disregard crumple and "softness" (that is empirically observed with motorcycle crashes) for repeated hard impact on the same section of helmet. This is not what happens in an actual crash the standard actually poses a threat to safety. Helmet standards call out various tests to evaluate helmet performance in reducing preventable brain injuries and fatalities. Helmet testing in a lab is not a simulation of a real crash. The most essential part of the testing is an assessment of the helmet’s total impact energy management capability. Snell Standards demand premium level of head protection above government minimum standard requirements set by DOT and ECE.
Controversy
In 2005,
''Motorcyclist'' magazine wrote an in-depth article discussing helmet testing and safety. The article included criticism of Snell Memorial Foundation standards by prominent head injury and helmet design experts, including Dr.
Harry Hurt
Hugh Harrison (Harry) Hurt, Jr., (December 13, 1927 – November 29, 2009) was an American researcher on motorcycle safety. He was the author of the 1981 Hurt Report, described as "the most comprehensive motorcycle safety study of the 20th c ...
, author of the
Hurt Report, who described the Snell standards as "a little bit excessive," and Dr. Jim Newman, former head of Snell Memorial Foundation, who characterized the then-current Snell Memorial Foundation standard as a "marketing gimmick." The article reported that a softer absorption material would transfer less
g-force
The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...
to the head in the most common motorcycle accidents than the stiffer absorption material required in Snell-certified helmets. Snell Memorial Foundation released a technical critique and rebuttal to the article, available at their Web site, which asserts that there are no viable data to indicate that a softer liner or a softer shell could result in less severe head injuries. In September 2009, ''New York Times'' published a follow-up article which cited the 2005 ''Motorcyclist'' article; SMF rebutted it as well. Snell Memorial Foundation's 2010 standard for motorcycle helmets now conforms to one of the magazine's criticisms, that a larger head will also be a heavier head.
See also
*
E-marking of motorcycle helmets for road use
References
Notes
*
External links
www.smf.orgnbsp;— Snell Memorial Foundation
{{Authority control
Motorcycle safety organizations
Auto racing equipment
Helmets
1957 establishments in the United States
Road safety organizations