The tragic death of Pete Snell, during a 1956 race, from head injury. And that is why helmets have a Snell rating, that establishes the effectiveness of the helmet in protecting your noggin.
Snell Standards significantly surpass those set by:
the United States Department of Transportation,
the American National Standards Institute,
ASTM International and
the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's
The Snell Memorial Foundation is a non-profit, and doesn't make helmets, they only test them. Also, they are ISO certified on the calibration and testing accuracy.
