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By Brian Afuang
HELMETS are worn over the head. Not on elbows or
strapped to the side of motorcycles, like what most of us see among
many of the underbone (small displacement motorcycles) riders on
Philippine roads. Helmets are designed to protect a rider’s head
in a crash or spill. Like the human head—and more important,
what’s inside it—not all helmets are created equal, so it’s
best to get into one’s thick skull what all those ratings on a
helmet mean.
That’s assuming one’s helmet actually bears
a safety rating, of course, the proof of which is often displayed at
bottom of the helmet’s back and on a label sewn on its inner
lining.
Certifying brain buckets
There are four internationally recognized safety
standards for road-use helmets. These are the British Standards
Institution (BSI) used in the United Kingdom; the Economic Community
of Europe (ECE) standard that’s recognized in more than 50
countries; the rating from the Snell Memorial Foundation (Snell
M2000/M2005), a private agency that has been in existence for over
50 years; and the US Department of Transportation (DOT)
certification that every helmet sold in the US must pass. A
particular helmet may satisfy more than one of these four safety
certifications, although which standard applies in which country
varies.
In the Philippines, despite a law mandating the
use of a helmet when riding a motorcycle, unfortunately none of the
four certifications are required.
Brain bucket defined
To understand the certifications is to first
understand the components of a helmet. Basically, a motorcycle
helmet has two major parts. First is the outer shell, which can be
made of fiberglass, carbon fiber, Kevlar or other exotic materials
like molded thermoplastic or polycarbonate—all of which determines
a helmet’s price tag. Its second part is the inner lining, which
is largely made of energy-absorbing expanded polystyrene (EPS), the
same material used in coffee cups or packages.
The outer shell’s function is to protect a
rider’s head from wind, rain or abrasions once he crashes. It also
plays a part in aerodynamic purposes as well as in aesthetics.
The inner lining, meanwhile, plays a larger role
in protecting a rider’s head from injury as it’s the EPS which
cushions the head and absorbs the energy of an impact. The good
thing with EPS is that it absorbs this impact at a predictable rate
and does not store the resultant kinetic energy so it could bounce
back to the rider’s head. The EPS slows down the speed by which
the head comes to a stop. The slower it comes to a stop, the better
the chances of a rider suffering less injuries.
The major types of helmets are full-face,
half-face, off-road and shortie. In recent years, modular
helmets—sort of a cross between a full-face and a half-face and
whose front portions can be flipped up or locked in place—have
become popular. Generally speaking, the more head area a helmet
covers, the safer it is.
Testing brain buckets
To test helmets, these are dropped onto a hard
object on a test rig. The height from which these are dropped and
the magnesium weight inside them are varied to simulate the
different speeds riders crash and the different head sizes that go
inside helmets. An accelerometer is mounted inside the helmet to
determine how much G-force is generated—and for how long this is
generated—in a particular impact. A helmet is most effective when
it translates lower G-force numbers to the head.
The methods and parameters by which each
certifying body conducts its testing vary, as do each one’s
philosophy on what exactly is required to make a helmet as
protective as possible. Some believe really stiff ones are best,
while others think cushioning is the way to go. By each one’s
published requirements, DOT-certified helmets are the softest, with
ECE ones almost similar, followed by BSI. Snell helmets sit at the
other end of the spectrum.
Rated brain buckets
Helmets made in Japan and Korea—which includes
Arai, Shoei, HJC, KBC and Icon—that are sold in the US are
obviously DOT certified but which also carry Snell M2000/M2005 or
the Euro ratings. Logically, helmets from European manufacturers
like Airoh, Caberg, Shark and Schuberth conform to ECE and/or BSI
standards, but may have DOT as well.
All these brands, even if not all of each
one’s models, are available in the Philippines. The brand Zeus is
the cheapest locally-sold helmet that boasts of DOT certification.
Which brain bucket is best
Because of the varying standards, parameters and
philosophy each certifying agency adheres to, there is no specific
answer to which rating—or ratings—is best. In a 2005 independent
study conducted by the American magazine Motorcyclist, the helmets
that scored the best were the DOT-certified only, followed by DOT/ECE,
DOT/BSI and DOT/Snell. However, the study is essentially the view of
one magazine only, however authoritative it may be. In Europe, for
instance, a DOT rating is obviously not as highly regarded.
What most industry experts agree on is that a
helmet’s price tag does not necessarily mean “expensive”
translates to “safe.” A $200 helmet is as safe as a $1,000 one
providing both have passed the same set of certification, experts,
like Motorcyclist, contends. What a more expensive helmet offers
will likely be a lighter shell (thanks to exotic materials), cushier
linings, improved ventilation or weather resistance, and generally
better features like visors, straps or aerodynamics. Of course,
styling and graphics could, chances are, be more attractive the
pricier a helmet gets.
What is also certain is that a helmet that
passes the certification of any of the four (or more) agencies is
logically safer than one that did not go through any sort of
standardized testing. It does not make sense then to scrimp and
settle for cheap, locally available brands like Index when a
DOT-certified Zeus could sometimes cost as little as P1,500 only.
Needless to say though, whatever the brand, a
helmet could only serve its purpose when it’s worn over one’s
head.
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