The impact attenuation test of motorcycle helmet standards.

In this paper, the methods of the European (UNECE22.05), American (FMVSS218), British (BS6658), Australia and New Zealand (AS/NZS1698) and Snell (M2010) standards for evaluating the impact absorption performance of motorcycle helmets are described and compared. The compared features are the test apparatus, impact initial conditions, impact points, impact output and the approval limit. This comparison reveals that these standards adopt the same method for evaluating the impact performance of helmets, which is positioning the helmet on a metal headform and dropping them onto a rigid anvil. During impact, the linear acceleration of the centre of gravity of the headform is measured; the approval criterion is based on this acceleration. Several studies on the relevance of this test method to real-life accidents are reviewed and their main findings are summarised. The review includes studies on the interaction between the head and neck during helmeted head impacts and those on assessing the performance of helmets during oblique impacts by using rotational acceleration, along with linear acceleration. It appears that in both areas, more research needs to be carried out to be able to influence current standards.