Motorcycle Helmets: the standards thing

I had a most horrifying discussion with an industry colleague at the Auto Expo. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to bring it up here. This colleague works in the helmet business and is in the position to know these things. But first a little background.

The American DOT (Department of Transport) standard, any many other standards in the world, follow what is known as the honour system. Which says, more or less, that I, the manufacturer am a responsible entity and I will ensure that my products meet the standard. That means, every helmet that says it meets or exceeds DOT standards does so. Not that DOT tests them, but that the manufacturer, verifiably, has the ethical wherewithall to ensure this is true.

Are you beginning to be scared already?

Now, in Europe or the US, I wouldn't have a problem with this. They value human life far, far more than we do at the moment, and helmets, at the end of the day, are life-or-death devices, so no one messes around.

I asked this chap how the IS:4151 was enforced in India. He smiled. It seems (please correct me if this information is wrong) that all you really need to put an ISI sticker on your helmet is the ability to prove that you can prove your helmet can pass the standard. Get it? You only need to show that you have the apparatus, as described in the standard, that can put helmets to the test. You might need to test a helmet or two to convince the BIS that the apparatus works, ditto the lid, but that's more or less it. Continuous product testing, random sampling and all are left to internal devices. The BIS, according to the source, does not actually test helmets, and random sample checks are few and far between.

Whoa.

Further, if I were out there buying a new lid, I'd try, as hell, to get a Snell M2005 spec helmet. There's a list at the Snell website, so identifying the models shouldn't be hard. Why? Because Snell, first of all, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to testing and certifying safe helmets. Second, its a voluntary thing. Lid makers pay Snell to test their products and then purchase the certification stickers from Snell to put on their lids. Third, Snell re-tests random samples to ensure that the lids continue to meet the Snell standard. Perhaps the only thing you can hold against the Snell standard is that as of 2005, the ECE22.05, the European standard, is actually tighter in terms of permissible peak impact force than Snell's M2005 (275g versus 300g).

In India, almost all of the KBC lids that have just gone on sale pass the M2005 tests. The Wife needs a new lid. Hmm...

Related links in this series:

• Motorcycle Helmets: The Indian Standard: IS4151
• Motorcycle Helmets: What is a helmet made of?
• Motorcycle Helmets: What does the outer shell do?
• Motorcycle Helmets: What does the inner shell do?
• Motorcycle Helmets: What is comfort padding? Why i...
• Motorcycle Helmets: What is a retention mechanism?...
• Motorcycle Helmets: What is the visor made of? Wha...
• Motorcycle Helmets: Why do all the big names harp ...
• Motorcycle Helmets: What happens when your head hi...
• Motorcycle Helmets: What happens when your head hi...
• Motorcycle Helmets: Do helmets cause hairloss?
• Motorcycle Helmets: Can I hear clearly despite wea...
• Motorcycle Helmets: I understand and I still don't...
• Motorcycle Helmets: What has rearset worn and loved...

Other links on helmets