11-13-2015, 10:46 PM
The actual effectiveness of helmets may be unrelated to the standards met or price of the helmet. 2004 I think, Motorcyclist ran some interesting tests of various helmets and concluded that two of the least expensive that were DOT approved only were the best at preventing brain injury. At that time, the Snell approved helmets tested were judged least effective because the Snell tests of that time required a high penetration resistance which meant the Snell approved helmets had harder shells which transferred more energy to the wearer in an impact. Motorcyclist lost advertising contracts with some helmet makers after that article.