The helmet is the most important safety device when riding a motorcycle, mainly protecting our most important organ – the brain.
In motorcycle accidents, fatal head trauma is not the first impact between the head and the helmet, but the second impact between the brain tissue and the skull. The first impact occurs when the helmet hits the obstacle. The second impact occurs inside the skull when the brain tissue hits the skull. The brain tissue will be squeezed or torn, causing permanent damage. At the same time, cerebral hemorrhage will also increase the pressure on the skull, squeezing the soft brain tissue. If the driver hits the obstacle head-on, the impact force will directly break the connection between the spine and the skull, cutting off the breathing and heartbeat functions for a short time.
Therefore, the most important function of a helmet is to reduce the speed at which brain tissue hits the skull. In the safety test of a helmet, the G value of acceleration is generally used to quantify it.
The tests for the various certification standards for helmet testing are to place sensors inside the helmet and let the helmet fall and hit sharp metal from different heights, angles, and different testing methods. Or test how much G-force the inner layer of the helmet is subjected to when the helmet encounters an obstacle and stops moving rapidly. In addition to the free fall test, there is also a penetration test – testing whether a sharp object will penetrate the helmet; there are also fall-off tests, deformation tests, and buckle tests, all of which are to test whether the helmet is easy to fall off, the helmet is deformed, and the buckle is deformed.
Who has the final say on whether a helmet is safe or not, and what level of safety it reaches? This involves the issue of helmet safety certification standards. Only helmets certified by authoritative organizations can be guaranteed to be safe. At present, there are many helmet safety certification standards in the world, most of which are official standards of countries or regions, and there are also safety standards of third-party certification agencies. Including: national and regional standards – EU ECE standards, British SHARP standards, US DOT standards, Japanese SG and JIS standards, Australian AS/NZ1698 standards, Chinese GB standards, etc., as well as third-party certification standards – SNELL standards, International Motorcycle Federation FRHPhe standards.
I cannot elaborate on all these standards, as doing so would be a long and disastrous discussion. I will simply talk about a few of the standards that have a greater impact.
The following standards are mainly introduced: Helmet safety certification standards, SNELL, SHARP, ECE or DOT?
1. US DOT standards
This is probably the most common helmet safety standard, and perhaps the most misunderstood one. DOT is the abbreviation of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is a mandatory requirement of the U.S. government for helmets sold in the country. Overall, the certification is relatively comprehensive.
DOT helmet testing includes impact attenuation testing, helmet fixing system testing, and penetration testing. DOT pays particular attention to the penetration test of helmets, which can protect the safety of racers’ helmets to a certain extent (but in daily riding, there are actually not many penetrating injuries, so this is worth discussing). In terms of the area of the head protection area, that is, the wrapping, DOT’s requirements are relatively low compared to Europe and China. So we can see that most half helmets are DOT certified, while half helmets are difficult to meet the safety standards specified in other standards, such as the SHARP test, which does not include half helmets in the test at all.
Therefore, don’t think that DOT is a very powerful certification. To some extent, DOT certification is the minimum passing score for entering the US market. Without DOT certification, you cannot legally drive on the road in the United States!
Another point that DOT is criticized for is that DOT adopts independent certification, and the manufacturer conducts the certification test by itself, and only conducts random inspections after the product is put on the market. In other words, as long as the manufacturer believes that its product meets the DOT standard, it can put the DOT logo on the back of the helmet. This point is exploited by many unscrupulous manufacturers, so the quality of helmets with the DOT logo varies.
It should be noted that DOT certification generally uses a double-ring buckle helmet strap design.
2. British SHARP standard
First of all, I would like to make it clear that this SHARP is not that SHARP, it is not the SHARP that makes TVs!
SHARP is a non-profit organization affiliated with the British government, and mainly tests the safety of motorcycle helmets. Its testing method is simple and crude – direct collision! The British are quite serious about the issue of helmet safety. They will use three different accelerations to hit the same helmet in the same position, and then change the side and hit it again. Generally, a helmet needs to be hit more than a dozen times before a conclusion on the safety of the helmet can be drawn.
Therefore, this test is a relatively authoritative, comprehensive and down-to-earth safety test. Helmets that have passed this test will be marked with a safety rating ranging from one star to five stars, with one star being the lowest and five stars being the highest. Generally speaking, the SHARP five-star helmets that we can buy on the market are basically priced at more than 2,000 yuan.
When we buy a helmet, if we see the following logo on the helmet sticker, it is a helmet that has been tested and certified by SHARP.
How can I check online how many stars a certain brand or model of helmet meets the SHARP standard? Simply click on the official website below, on the right side of the homepage, click on the manufacturer in the red circle, select the brand and model, and then click on the Search below to see the results. If you only want to see the safety level of a few stars, it is not a big problem for students who are not good at English. It is very convenient. The official address is http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/
3.EU ECE Standard
ECE is the abbreviation of the European Economic Commission. The ECE standard for helmets we usually refer to is ECE 22.05, which specifically refers to the helmet safety standard.
This certification standard is the entry permit for helmets in Europe and is also the most common helmet standard in the world. More than 50 countries around the world require the use of helmets that pass the ECE22.05 standard. Almost all motorcycle racing organizations (AMA, WERA, FIM, CCS, Formula USA, MotoGP) recognize the ECE22.05 standard. Therefore, for a long time, the recognition of ECE22.05 by riders has far exceeded other standards.
The ECE22.05 standard is a very comprehensive certification standard. It not only has strict requirements on the safety of the helmet itself, but also has corresponding regulations on related accessories. For example, the mask lens and buckle latch. By the way, ECE requires helmet manufacturers to purchase test equipment that meets its regulations, but the purchase of all this equipment is generally not cheap, and small workshops cannot afford it. So it is a kind of entry threshold, which blocks some small workshops from this standard.
When we buy ECE22.05 standard helmets, we need to pay special attention to the following points:
1. Lens. Usually there is a row of codes in the upper left or upper right corner of the lens. Usually it is a circle with Ex (x is a number between 1-13) written inside, and 6 digits after the circle;
2. The lower back of the helmet is usually labeled with an ECE22.05 label, which indicates the size of the helmet, suitable head circumference, weight, etc. (The ECE22.05 standard has relatively detailed regulations on the weight of helmets. A certain type of helmet of a certain material must have a certain weight within a certain range.)
3. There will also be a serial number on the buckle. The first 6 digits are the factory number, and the last digits are the production batch.
4. The helmet buckle is generally a latch type, which is easier to unfasten and fasten, unlike the double ring buckle of DOT.
If the above four points are met, it can basically be determined as an ECE certified helmet.
4. US SNELL certification
SNELL, We don’t make helmets. We make them safer.
We don’t make helmets, we just ship them. Oh, wrong, we just make it safer.
The SNELL certification agency is a non-profit third-party organization. It was founded in 1957. At that time, a driver named Pete William Snell died in a race. In memory of Snell, the organization was established to improve the safety performance of helmets and popularize helmet safety knowledge. Currently, the SNELL certification has been recognized by AMA, NASCAR, SCCA, FIA, FIM and other motorcycle and automobile racing organizations.
As American certification standards, the biggest difference between SNELL and DOT is the management method. After a product passes the SNELL test, SNELL will continue to purchase products with SNELL standards from the open market and use these products for testing again (but SNELL officials have not announced the consequences of products not meeting the standards). On the other hand, SNELL also accepts prototype helmet testing, while other standards only accept testing of helmets sold to the public on the market.
SNELL tests include: Impact test: energy absorption test; Position stability test; Dynamic Retention test; Chin bar test; Shell penetration test; Facesheld penetration test (full face helmet only); Flame resistance test (special racing helmet only) etc.
SNELL believes that a healthy adult’s head can withstand an impact of 400G-600G. Their safety standard is capped at 300G (DOT’s upper limit is 400G, so from this point of view, DOT’s standard is relatively loose).
SNELL certification is very complex and detailed. Every detail of the helmet and the situations that may be encountered during use have corresponding standards, which are updated every 5 years. Currently, the helmets that can be purchased are M2005/M2010/M2015 certified. M2005 is too strict, so the most common helmets on the market are M2010 and M2015 standard helmets. The M2020 certification standard has also been formulated. Interested students can download it and have a look: http://www.smf.org/standards/m/2020/M2020_Final.pdf
There are many brands that have passed this certification, such as LS2, Forever, and Beijing Shenzhou Rodia, so not all helmets that have passed SNELL certification are expensive. South Korea’s HJC and our Guangdong LS2 are both good choices). It should be noted that SNELL will certify each size under a certain brand and model. So we will see that the same helmet has a large size certified, but a small size is not certified, so be sure to pay attention when purchasing.
5. FIM (International Motorcycle Federation) FRHPhe standard
FIM is the abbreviation of the International Motorcycle Racing Federation (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme), also known as the International Motorcycle Federation in China. FIM is in charge of the world’s top motorcycle events such as Moto GP and WSBK. Its status is equivalent to the FIA in the racing world (in charge of international top events such as F1, FE, and Le Mans 24 Hours). FIM will officially launch the official helmet safety certification standard FRHPhe (FIM Racing Homologation Program for Helmets) in 2019.
That is to say, starting from 2019, all drivers’ helmets participating in FIM events will need to pass the FRHPhe safety standard certification. Existing helmets of various brands, regardless of whether they have passed SNELL or other certification standards before, need to be retested before they can be used in competitions.
The FIM test method is to select 22 test points in the helmet and randomly select 13 of them for testing. The degree of prevention of skull fractures, the cushioning function of EPS and lining, and puncture resistance are evaluated.
FRHPhe is more stringent than SNELL in terms of safety standards. This is because this standard is formulated for the highest level of motorcycle sports in the world. Therefore, a helmet that can pass the FRHPhe standard can be said to be the safest motorcycle helmet in the world.
6. China GB Standard
At present, the domestic standard is still the GB 811-2010 “Motorcycle Helmets”, which is obviously behind foreign countries in terms of technology, materials and safety. Moreover, the GB standard is not enforced strongly, so it can basically be ignored.
Summarize:
Ranking of the stringency of several safety certification standards: FRHPhe ＞ SNELL ≈ SHARP ＞ ECE ＞ DOT ＞ GB
Theoretically, FRHPhe is the most demanding because it is mainly aimed at top motorcycle events, but for ordinary players like us, it is only for reference.
For ordinary players like us, as long as we can ensure that the helmet is SNELL, SHARP, and ECE certified, the safety is very guaranteed. If we lower the standard a little bit, DOT certification, there is still basic safety guarantee. For national standards, please choose according to your own vehicle and needs.
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