The Scene

THE SCENE

IVAN J. WAGAR

BUYING a $40 safety helmet can be more confusing than purchasing a $1500 motorcycle. Motorcycles are subjected to informative road tests, and many dealers provide demonstration models to help customers make decisions.

But who tests helmets? Because a helmet can save a life, it is vital to wear the best one possible. But how can riders decide whether a $30 helmet offers sufficient protection, or whether it is necessary to spend an additional $30 on a deluxe model? What is the meaning of that odd jumble of letters and numbers known as the USASI Z90.1 1966 Standard, and what part does the Snell Memorial Foundation play in setting helmet specifications?

To the rescue comes an organization entitled the Safety Helmet Council of America, with a plan that simplifies helmet buying and selling for riders, distributors, and manufacturers. The Council was formed last year by a group of U.S. helmet manufacturers whose idea is to fix a certificate^ to every helmet that passes certain standards. Thus, a rider can walk into a store and select a certified helmet, knowing that it has passed basic tests for strength and safety.

The standard on which the award of certificates is based is the “Z90,” as it is known for brevity. What is Z90? Simply a standard for protective headgear laid down in 1966 by the USASI-or United States of America Standards Institute. This standard was chosen because it is the highest in the world that deals with safety helmets.

A sample of the Council’s certificate is shown here.

A copy of it will be attached to every helmet that is submitted to the Council and passes the Z90 tests. The mark still will not permit buyers to distinguish between the quality of different makes of helmets that have passed the Z90. But its presence on a helmet assures riders that the helmet has surpassed the most stringent tests in the world.

What comprises a Z90 test? There are three sectionsshock absorption, penetration, and retention system. The shock absorption test requires 32 impacts consisting of four pairs of blows to be directed on each of four helmets. The penetration test demonstrates the helmet’s ability to prevent a sharply pointed steel striker, when dropped from a prescribed height, from making contact with a dummy head. The retention test requires the helmet harness to support a heavy weight, without parting or elongating more than specified amounts.

The Snell Memorial Foundation is named after a sports car driver named Peter Snell who, although wearing a helmet, received fatal head injuries during a race in 1956. His death prompted formation of the foundation the following year, and an investigation into helmets that showed that many of them were inadequate. In 1966, the Foundation adopted Z90 as the best standard available for testing helmets. Today, the Foundation still is conducting research into safety helmet design.

The SHCA is comprised of six manufacturers—five American, one Japanese—who are active members, and two associate members-one maker in Japan, and another in England. The Council estimates that at present its members account for approximately 50 percent of the total number of helmets sold in America.

It is important to stress that although a helmet does not bear a Council certificate, it still may be capable of exceeding the Z90 standard. Certain manufacturers do not wish to participate in the certification program, yet their products are nevertheless adequate.

A question many people will ask is, “What’s in it for the Council?” The Council says, “One of the prime motivations for the SHCA’s inauguration of the certification program was the impact of helmet legislation being passed by an ever-increasing number of states. It was felt that, from the point of view of the manufacturer, as well as the interstate user of a helmet, a uniform national standard was of great importance.”

In other words, the Council openly admits that it wants protection for helmet manufacturers against possible variations in state requirements. But it is also fighting to avoid the situation whereby a rider’s helmet might be legal in one state, but illegal in a neighboring state.

How does the Council stand on compulsory helmet legislation? Council President Frank Heacox said: “We have deliberately refrained from taking sides. If we come right out in favor of helmet laws, people will say that we are doing so to line our pockets. But if we oppose them, we could find ourselves fighting against states whose officials we have to work

with in persuading them to adopt helmet standards. It became clear to us that the only path was no path at all.”

The Council also has issued an explanation about the shock absorption test section of the Z90 standard. This section can be passed by any helmet which will satisfactorily absorb two direct impacts at the same site at the low speed of only 13 mph. “This means that a person wearing a helmet which does meet the requirements of the Z90 standard probably will not survive an accident if his head makes direct contact with a curb, wall, utility pole, automobile, or some other solid object at a speed in excess of 13 mph,” warns the Council.

Because of this low test speed, Council members believe that it is doubly important for riders not to buy helmets which do not exceed the Z90 standard. They also would like to establish far more stringent tests for high performance helmets for racing use. But this plan has had to be postponed because of the difficulty the Council already is experiencing in winning wide acceptance for the Z90 standard.

One final, and very obvious question remains. Why don’t helmet manufacturers produce a helmet that would protect a rider from a head-on crash at, say, 100 mph? The reason is that, with present knowledge and materials, such a helmet would have to be 8 in. wide on each side of the rider’s head. It would be impractical because of its cost and its weight—which could break a rider’s neck in an accident. Also, such a bulky item would be unlikely to win public acceptance.

In the meantime, the Z90 standard and the SHCA certificate remain the highest tests of a helmet’s protective ability.

LAST that month motorcycles in The would Scene, finish I predicted 1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall in the 7-11 Off Road Championship Race, run over two laps of a 355-mile course with start/finish at Las Vegas. I was wrong. Overall, bikes finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd AND 4th. That’s the kind of forecast error I like to make.