The soft underbelly of the DOT standard

Yep, watched the video today. To be honest I didn't need that complicated explaination from FortNine... you may ask why's that? It's pretty simple. If there are helmets that look like a bowl on your head and doesn't protect your face but still they are DOT certified... then DOT is pretty bad at safety standards.

That's why I usually buy and look for SNELL certified helmets. They even won't certify helmets with built in sunvisor. Shoei GT-Air is a good example for that. It's DOT certified but not SNELL certified.

When it comes to helmets, DOT and safety are mutually exclusive. Which is probably why so many States don't require helmets.

I know that SNELL has improved their standards in the past few years, but I still won't buy any helmet that is certified to their standard. Their main concern for years was how durable the helmet was. They missed the fact that our brains are delicate and need to be protected from G forces.

If I'm looking for safety ratings, ECE is the standard I look for. Of course one needs Internet access or a binder of documents to decipher the ECE standards. Especially since many manufacturers are guilty of selling motorcycle gear with deceptive ECE ratings. Such as motorcycle gloves with safety ratings applicable to gardening gloves...

Skill and situational awareness are what keep you from needing to test your helmets protective quality.

Riding position coupled with where you ride has a lot to do with what part of the helmet may impact in a get off.

Helmets that cushion the brain verses helmets that survive an impact are mutually exclusive due to energy absorbsion properties.