I saw this article while surfing the net, and you wouldn't believe the results they got from testing helmets that are DOT, Snell and ECE 22.05 certified.

Actually, you wouldn't believe the results coming from a $79.95 DOT certified helmet. I am not a critic of Snell, but according to the article, Snell certified helmets are too hard for low-speed crashes, which is a big percentage of crashes that have been documented so far. I'm not also sure whether this article was mentioned in this forum before. As you can see, I'm just a N0ob here.

Read on:

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/motorcycle_helmet_review/index.html

same findings came out of the test done by Motorcyclist Magazine...a DOT certified helmet is good enough if you only use your bike as a daily commuter....

yup... snell helmets were designed with the racetrack in mind (high speed corners, fast track times, avergae speeds of 200+km/h)... DOT helmets are designed with the streets in mind (stop-and-go traffic, low-speed braking)... so talagang mas mataas and shell density ng snell for high-speed impact...

sir, a DOT helmet is good enough but the thing is they don't go through actual testing. DOT sets the regulations and then the manufacturers will have to certify their own helmets, some companies actually test their helmets and some don't and these companies don't send their helmets to a third party independent company to test it, so sometimes shaddy helmet manufacturers would put a DOT sticker on their lid hoping that their helmet would protect the rider. so if i were you get a snell or an ece22.05 helmet which has a more stringent testing process than SNELL.