Snell Memorial Foundation

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For the astronomer and mathematician, see Willebrord Snellius. For the law of sines, see Snell's law.

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 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.

1 Current standards
2 Tests
3 Safety
4 Controversy
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Current standards

B-95 Bicycle helmets
B-95C Children's bicycle helmets
E2001 Equestrian helmets
H2000 Harness racing helmets
L-98 Mopeds and Low Powered Vehicles
M2005 Motorcycle helmets
N-94 Undefined or general use helmets used in sports and industry
RS-98 Recreational Skiing & Snowboarding
SA2005 Auto racing helmets
K2005 Kart racing helmets (same as SA without the need for fire retardant fittings)

PDF files of every Snell standard are available on the Snell website.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Safety

Snell Standards significantly surpass those set by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), ASTM International (ASTM) and the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission's 16 CFR Part 1203.^{[citation needed]}

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.

[edit] Controversy

In an in-depth magazine article^[1] 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, 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 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 [1] to the article which is available at their website.