citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message snell memorial foundation type nonprofit organization founded 1957 headquarters north highlands california key people executive director edward b. becker general manager stephen johnson services helmet safety research testing certification and education website http www.smf.org the snell memorial foundation is a nonprofit organization created to provide a high quality standard of safety for helmets . founded in 1957 the foundation 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 . contents 1 standards 2 tests 3 safety 4 controversy 5 references 6 notes 7 external links standards edit b 95 bicycle helmets b 95c children s bicycle helmets e2001 equestrian helmets h2000 harness racing helmets l 98 mopeds and low powered vehicles m2015 motorcycle helmets n 94 undefined or general use helmets used in sports and industry rs 98 recreational skiing & snowboarding helmets sa2005 auto racing helmets sa2015 2015 helmet standard for use in competitive automotive sports k2005 kart racing helmets same as sa without the need for fire retardant fittings k2010 2010 helmet standard for use in kart racing pdf files of current and past snell standards are available on the snell web site . 1 tests edit to qualify for snell certification the helmet must pass a series of tests . the tests are determined depending on the application and the requirements of the standard . safety edit snell standards significantly surpass those set by the united states department of transportation dot the american national standards institute ansi astm international astm and the u.s. consumer product 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 . controversy edit in 2005 motorcyclist magazine wrote an in depth article discussing helmet testing and safety . 2 the article included criticism of snell memorial foundation standards by 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 and dr. jim newman former head of snell memorial foundation who characterized the then current snell memorial foundation standard as a marketing gimmick . 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 required in snell certified helmets . 3 snell memorial foundation released a technical critique and rebuttal to the article available at their web site which asserts that there are no viable data to indicate that a softer liner or a softer shell could result in less severe head injuries . 4 in september 2009 new york times published a follow up article which cited the 2005 motorcyclist article ; smf rebutted it as well . 5 snell memorial foundation s 2010 standard for motorcycle helmets now conforms to one of the magazine s criticisms that a larger head will also be a heavier head . 6 references edit snell helmet safety standards snell memorial foundation retrieved 2009 10 08 ford dexter ; photog jim brown june 2005 motorcycle helmet performance blowing the lid off searching for the truth behind motorcycle helmet design helmet standards and actual head protection motorcyclist moon wendy february 2005 harry hurt speaks out ; helmets the brain safety studies & rider training pdf motorcycle consumer news bowtie pp. 23 27 the snell memorial foundation september 9 2005 technical response to motorcyclist magazine blowing the lid off article pdf the snell memorial foundation september 24 2009 snell s response to new york time article sorting out differences in helmet standards smf m2010 release schedule pdf snell memorial foundation notes edit ford dexter september 2009 sorting out differences in helmet standards the new york times external links edit www.smf.org snell memorial foundation retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title snell memorial foundation & oldid 719351279 categories motorcycle safety organizationsauto racing equipmenthelmets1957 establishments in the united statesroad safety organizationshidden categories articles needing additional references from august 2009all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from may 2007 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages portugu s edit links this page was last modified on 9 may 2016 at 05 04 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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