deludedbuzz

NASA usually checks, but not all the time. My guess is they will be more diligent if you are in one of the two lower run groups. By the time you are in group 3 or 4 you should realize that head safety is not where you want to save money and spend the money on a proper SA rated helmet.

Otherwise groups run the gamut, from guys like NCRA who don't really check (at least in the more advanced groups) to BMWCCA who are super diligent.

Again though, there's a reason why you want an SA rated helmet and not an M.

Youmna

Why is that?

eremoy

Its a safety thing:

What are the differences between the SA and M standards?

SA Standard was designed for auto racing while M Standard was for motorcycling and other motorsports. There are three major differences between them:
1.SA standard requires flammability test while the M standard does not;
2.SA standard allows narrower visual field than M standard (Some SA helmets may not be street legal);
3.SA standard has rollbar impact test while M standard does not.
http://www.smf.org/faqs.html

What does this mean? Well, for number 1, SA has a nomex liner and M does not. For number 2, an SA helmet is allowed to have a narrower fieled of vision than an M helmet. In other words, they make sure the M helmet is street legal. For number 3 they test both against the same impact types, except that the SA helmet includes a test for a roll bar that the M does not.

Impact Test
This test involves a series of controlled impacts where a helmet is positioned on a metal head form and then dropped in a guided fall onto various test anvils (Flat, Hemisphere, Kurbstone, Roll_bar, etc. to simulate different impact surfaces. See below for the picture). The head forms are instrumented with an accelerometer to measure peak G force. The impact energy (drop height and mass) are unique to each standard. However, if in any valid test the peak acceleration imparted to the head form exceeds 300 G's, the helmet will be rejected.
http://www.smf.org/testing.html

Youmna

Its a safety thing:

What are the differences between the SA and M standards?
...
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Thank you! That was very informative; I appreciate it.