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The Snell Memorial Foundation (SMF) is a not-for-profit organization created to provide a high quality standard of safety for helmets. Founded in 1957, SMF is named after William "Pete" Snell, a popular sports car
Sports car

A sports car is a term used to describe a class of automobile. The exact definition varies, but generally it is used to refer to a low to ground, light weight vehicle with a powerful engine....
 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.


PDF
Portable Document Format

Portable Document Format is a file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for document exchange. PDF is used for representing two-dimensional documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system....
 files of every Snell standard are available on the Snell website.
rder to qualify for SMF certification, the helmet must pass a series of tests.






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The Snell Memorial Foundation (SMF) is a not-for-profit organization created to provide a high quality standard of safety for helmets. Founded in 1957, SMF is named after William "Pete" Snell, a popular sports car
Sports car

A sports car is a term used to describe a class of automobile. The exact definition varies, but generally it is used to refer to a low to ground, light weight vehicle with a powerful engine....
 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.

Current standards

  • B-95 Bicycle
    Bicycle

    The bicycle, bike, or cycle is a pedal-driven, human-powered transport with two bicycle wheel attached to a bicycle frame, one behind the other....
     helmets
  • B-95C Children's bicycle helmets
  • E2001 Equestrian
    Equestrianism

    Equestrianism refers to the skill of riding or driving horses. This broad description includes both use of horses for practical, working animal purposes as well as recreational activities and animals in sport....
     helmets
  • H2000 Harness racing
    Harness racing

    Harness racing is a form of horse-racing in which the horses race in a specified gait. They usually pull two-wheeled carts called sulky, although races to saddle are still occasionally conducted, especially in Europe....
     helmets
  • L-98 Moped
    Moped

    Mopeds are a class of low-powered motorized vehicle, generally two or three wheeled. Moped classification is designed to allow the use of small motorized vehicles seen as not requiring the safety restrictions and license requirement that larger motorcycles are subject to....
    s and Low Powered Vehicles
  • M2005 Motorcycle helmet
    Motorcycle helmet

    A motorcycle helmet is a type of helmet used by motorcycle riders. The primary goal of a motorcycle helmet is motorcycle safety - to protect the rider's head during impact, thus preventing or reducing head injury or saving the rider's life....
    s
  • N-94 Undefined or general use helmets used in sports and industry
  • RS-98 Recreational Skiing
    Skiing

    Snow skiing is a group of sports using skis as primary equipment. Skis are used in conjunction with ski boots that connect to the ski with use of a ski bindings....
     & Snowboarding
    Snowboarding

    Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is either partially or fully covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set into a mounted binding....
  • SA2005 Auto racing
    Auto racing

    Auto racing is a motorsport involving racing cars. It is one of the world's most watched television sports....
     helmets
  • K2005 Kart racing
    Kart racing

    Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motor sport with simple, small four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design....
     helmets (same as SA without the need for fire retardant
    Fire retardant

    A fire retardant is a substance that helps delay or prevent combustion. Fire retardants are commonly used in fire fighting. Water is the most commonly used fire retardant, but the phrase typically refers to chemical retardants, including fire-fighting foams and fire-retardant gels....
     fittings)


PDF
Portable Document Format

Portable Document Format is a file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for document exchange. PDF is used for representing two-dimensional documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system....
 files of every Snell standard are available on the Snell website.

Tests

In order to qualify for SMF 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 U.S. Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation

The United States Department of Transportation is a federal United States Cabinet department of the United States government of the United States concerned with transportation....
 (DOT), the American National Standards Institute
American National Standards Institute

The American National Standards Institute or 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....
 (ANSI), ASTM International
ASTM International

ASTM International , originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services....
 (ASTM) and the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission's 16 CFR Part 1203.

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.

Controversy

In an in-depth magazine article discussing helmet testing and safety, SMF came under some pressure from prominent head injury and helmet design experts, including Dr. Harry Hurt, author of the Hurt Report
Hurt Report

The Hurt Report was a motorcycle safety study conducted in the United States, initiated in 1976 and published in 1981. It is named for the primary author, Dr....
, who described the Snell standards as "a little bit excessive" in reference to the extremely high standard of results the Foundation requires. The article reported that a softer absorption material would transfer less g force
G force

The term g-force refers to a measure of the apparent acceleration acting on a body measured in multiples of the sea level acceleration due to gravity on Earth....
 to the head in the most common motorcycle accidents than the stiffer absorption material found in some Snell-Certified helmets. SMF released a technical critique and rebuttal to the article which is available at their website.

External links