Snell Spec Diagram

Many times I come across articles discussing the purchasing of a motorcycle helmet; what to look for, how to measure your head to ensure the right fit, and how various types of helmets perform in impact testing. Sure there are lots of types of helmets like skull caps, half shell, 3/4 shell, full-face, modular (or flip-lid), etc and all perform differently in a crash. Some riders take helmet safety quite seriously and others don’t care in the least and opt to not wear one at all if they can legally get away with it. Others only care about how cool it looks. Some riders care so little about helmet safety, that if they are forced to wear one, they will buy the cheapest skull cap they can and slap on a DOT sticker that they picked up at some motorcycle swap meet in an attempt to fool whatever cop who happens to pull them over.

For those riders who really care about their noggin and care about being a law abiding citizen, choosing and wearing an approved helmet is important. Most riders in North America know that DOT is the most common type of certification for motorcycle helmets. Now I can’t speak for all regions but as a rider in Ontario, Canada, there are more than one. More educated riders will also be familiar with SNELL as another approved type of helmet. But there are more! It’s a shame that more motorcycle dealerships and equipment stores don’t keep up on the latest rules and regulations because they are limiting the options they can provide to their customers.

I know of at least one BMW dealership in Ontario that stopped selling their own preferred brand of helmet because they found out that it wasn’t legally approved. Well…it is now. As safety standards around the world are improved and compared against the currently approved standards in North America, it’s been realized that other types of certifications are just as good, if not better than, other types of certifications…for example the DOT standards. In fact it’s been realized that DOT is actually the lowest in performance standards compared to SNELL or the European Union regulation known as ECE. As a result, more and more certification types are now approved for on-road use. ECE 22.05, which is considered one of the best, was just added to the list in the past year.

Who knew? It turns out…not many. Motorcycle dealers don’t know, equipment supply stores don’t know and many cops don’t know. This is unfortunate in so many ways. Not only are we as riders limited in our purchase options, but we may also get a ticket for wearing an unapproved helmet which is actually approved. Take that ticket to court folks.

So how many approved certifications are there? Well at the time of writing this, there are five for Ontario (check your local laws…carefully). They are the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), SNELL, British Standards Institute (BSI), DOT, and European Union (ECE 22.05). Take a look at the appropriate section of the Highway Traffic Act below. If you have doubts, I encourage you to look it up for yourself and print out a copy. Show it to your dealers, shops and if need be…the cop who pulls you over. Be warned though, don’t be a jerk to the cops. They don’t generally pull riders over because they think you’re wearing an unapproved helmet. They may just add that one to the list of infractions that they did pull you over for.

Highway Traffic Act

R.R.O. 1990, REGULATION 610

SAFETY HELMETS

Consolidation Period: From July 1, 2012 to the e-Laws currency date.

Last amendment: O. Reg. 102/12.

1.  A helmet worn by a person,

(a) riding on or operating a motorcycle; or

(b) operating a motor assisted bicycle,

on a highway shall,

(c) have a hard, smooth outer shell lined with protective padding material or fitted with other energy absorbing material and shall be strongly attached to a strap designed to be fastened under the chin of the wearer; and

(d) be undamaged from use or misuse. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 610, s. 1.

2.  The helmet referred to in section 1 shall conform to the requirements of the,

(a) Canadian Standards Association Standard D230 Safety Helmets for Motorcycle Riders and shall bear the monogram of the Canadian Standards Association Testing Laboratories;

(b) Snell Memorial Foundation and shall have affixed thereto the certificate of the Snell Memorial Foundation;

(c) British Standards Institute and shall have affixed thereto the certificate of the British Standards Institute;

(d) United States of America Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 and shall bear the symbol DOT constituting the manufacturer’s certification of compliance with the standard; or

(e) United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Regulation No. 22, “Uniform Provisions Concerning the Approval of Protective Helmets and of Their Visors for Drivers and Passengers of Motor Cycles and Mopeds”, and shall have affixed thereto the required international approval mark. R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 610, s. 2; O. Reg. 102/12, s. 1.