Bike helmet standards: who sets them, and from when.

United States: CPSC 16 CFR Part 1203 (mandatory)

Bicycle helmets sold in the US must meet the Consumer Product Safety Commission's standard, 16 CFR Part 1203. It was published in the Federal Register on 10 March 1998 (63 FR 11729) and took effect on 10 March 1999 for all bicycle helmets made after that date. We read the CFR text only as reproduced by a mirror, so its exact wording is unconfirmed; the CPSC's own business guidance is the source for the test details below.

Before that, the Children's Bicycle Helmet Safety Act of 1994 (enacted 16 June 1994) led to interim mandatory standards, codified in a Federal Register notice of 23 March 1995. Under them a helmet had to meet at least one listed standard: ANSI Z90.4-1984, Snell B-90 and ASTM F1447-93 (named in the Act), plus ASTM F1447-94, Snell B-90S, Snell N-94, Snell B-95 and CAN/CSA-D113.2-M89 (added by the Commission). The sources differ by a day on when this began: the 1995 notice gives an effective date of 15 March 1995 and says the Act covers helmets made on or after 16 March 1995, while Subpart D of Part 1203 covers helmets made from 17 March 1995.

The CPSC describes the tests as follows:

• Impact. Peak headform acceleration must not exceed 300 g, after conditioning at ambient, cold, hot and water-soaked conditions. A flat anvil is struck at about 6.2 m/s (about a 2 m drop), and hemispherical and curbstone anvils at about 4.8 m/s (about a 1.2 m drop).
• Stability and straps. A positional stability (roll-off) test, and a retention system test in which straps may stretch no more than 30 mm.
• Vision. At least 105 degrees of peripheral vision each side of centre.
• Samples and labels. At least 8 helmets of each size of each model are tested. The label must certify compliance and give the maker's or importer's name and contact details, a lot identifier and the month and year of manufacture, with warnings that no helmet protects against all impacts and that a helmet should be replaced after an impact.

The CPSC says the standard covers headgear marketed for bicycle riders, including multi-purpose helmets a reasonable consumer could take to be for cycling; helmets marketed only for skateboarding, in-line skating, baseball or roller hockey are exempt.

Europe and the UK: EN 1078

BSI lists BS EN 1078:2012+A1:2012, "Helmets for pedal cyclists and for users of skateboards and roller skates", as current, published 29 February 2012 and replacing the 1997 edition. BSI marks it "Under Review". It covers construction including field of vision, shock absorption, retention systems, and marking and information. National catalogues link it to the EU's Personal Protective Equipment Regulation (EU) 2016/425, but we did not check the Official Journal citation. A search summary referred to an "EN 1078:2025" with rotational tests; BSI still lists the 2012 edition as current, so no 2025 edition is confirmed.

EN 17950:2024 is a test method, not a helmet standard

EN 17950:2024, "Protective helmets - Test methods - Shock absorption including measuring rotational kinematics", comes from the CEN technical committee for head protection (CEN/TC 158) and reached the published stage on 3 July 2024. It describes how to measure translational and rotational movement in an impact. It is a test method only, not a complete helmet product standard.

Escape Collective reported on 17 February 2025 that a coming European helmet standard built on EN 17950 would make rotational impact testing mandatory and replace EN 1078, but that the thresholds, impact speed and impact locations were still to be agreed and no in-force date had been set. It said the new headforms come in nine sizes, 47 to 63 cm in 2 cm steps, developed by a CEN working group known as WG11, and noted that a Mips executive presented the work alongside a member of that group. It also pointed out that the helmet maker Kask's own test protocol is called "WG11" and has little in common with the CEN group.

Australia: the 2024 mandatory supply standard

The Consumer Goods (Bicycle Helmets) Safety Standard 2024 was made under section 104 of the Australian Consumer Law; its explanatory statement was registered on 21 March 2024 and the standard began the day after registration. It repealed the 2001 regulations and gave an 18-month transition during which suppliers could meet either regime. A search summary of the ACCC's page dates the end of the transition to 21 September 2025; the page itself could not be opened.

A helmet supplied in Australia must comply fully with one of six standards: AS/NZS 2063:2008, AS/NZS 2063:2020, EN 1078:2012+A1:2012, US CPSC 16 CFR Part 1203, ASTM F1447-18, or Snell B-95 (1995, 1998 revision). The standard covers bicycle helmets, including those also meant for e-bikes and other wheeled recreational devices, and excludes helmets for competitive downhill mountain bike and BMX racing, toy helmets and motorcycle helmets. It is a rule on supply, not a rule on wearing.

Canada (British Columbia) and Snell

British Columbia's Bicycle Safety Helmet Standards Regulation (B.C. Reg. 234/96, in force 3 September 1996, read as current to 13 October 2026) accepts CAN/CSA D113.2-M89, Snell B-95, B-90, B-90S, N-94, ASTM F1447-94 and ANSI Z90.4-1984. It also requires a helmet to have a smooth outer surface, absorb impact energy, be attached to a chin strap and be undamaged. The Snell Memorial Foundation's B-90 (1990) and B-95 (1995) bicycle standards both appear in this list and among the US 1995 interim standards; B-95 is also one of the six in Australia's 2024 standard.

Wearing rules on the road

Standards cover how a helmet is made; whether a rider must wear one is a separate question for each jurisdiction. Two examples from official texts:

• Great Britain. Highway Code Rule 59 (page updated 22 October 2025) advises cyclists to wear a helmet that meets current standards, fits and is securely fastened. It is "should" guidance and cites no law. The Northern Ireland Highway Code carries the same advice in its Rule 59.
• California. AB 1096 (2015) requires riders and passengers on Class 3 e-bikes to wear a helmet meeting ASTM or CPSC standards, and bars anyone under 16 from operating one.

Racing has its own rules, set out on the helmet rules in racing page.

Rotational-impact systems are makers' claims

MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System) is a maker's technology, and any protective benefit it states is the maker's claim. IIHS described it in 2018 as a low-friction layer that lets the head slide relative to the helmet and reduces rotational forces. Escape Collective names Mips, WaveCel and Kask's WG11 protocol as makers' technologies or protocols aimed at rotational protection; none is a regulatory standard. Independent laboratory ratings, which do test angled impacts, are on the independent helmet tests page.