Skateboard helmet vs bicycle helmet?

[OakLeaf]

From the Snell Memorial Foundation's website:

You may think that activities like bicycling and skateboarding are pretty much the same, wheeled, non-motorized vehicles that are used on paved surfaces. In some ways they are alike but, they also differ in some important aspects. Studies have demonstrated that the the head impacts that cyclists receive are more frequently located on the front third of the helmet down near the lower edge. This is likely a result of the dynamics of how people ride and the design of bicycles. A rider who is about to be involved in an incident is also likely to be using their hands and arms to try to maneuver the bike rather than for the natural act of protecting their head and face.

Skateboarders generally have less maneuvering capability and thus less active control, except for perhaps those who have an expertise in the activity. The environment that these items are used are commonly less controlled, with a larger variety of unknown hazards. Unlike bicyclists, skateboarders and those who rollerblade, rollerskate and the like are more likely to fall backwards making impacts to the back of the head more common. Their arms and hands are usually free to naturally react and cover at least the front and sides of the head helping to diffuse the impact. It becomes more important that a person on a skateboard, rollerblades or skates have a helmet that offers more protection for the back of the head.

It's too early in the morning for me to look up the difference between the CPSC's standards for bicycle and skateboard helmets, although the Regulation does reference skateboarding helmets as something to be distinguished from cycling helmets. 16 CFR § 1203.4(b)(2). And it's tough to find a Snell bici helmet in the USA these days, since the CPSC standard became mandatory. But their summary gives you a pretty good idea.



ETA: to KiwiStoker, in the USA, helmets do NOT have to be independently tested. That's why the Snell certification remains important. But it's expensive, and few manufacturers bother with it any more since the CPSC standard became mandatory. And WRT other certifications, even if a helmet has the same model name in other countries as it does in North America, with motorcycle helmets it's definitely not the same helmet - they make lookalike helmets with the same model names, but differently constructed to met CE or other requirements - so if you're in the USA, don't rely on the fact that a bici helmet model has CE certification unless the exemplar in your hands actually bears a CE sticker, and vice versa.