CPSC bicycle helmet standard part 1203.

What counts as a bicycle helmet

Part 1203 is a mandatory standard that "describes test methods and defines minimum performance criteria for all bicycle helmets" (1203.1(a)). The definition in 1203.4(b) is about marketing: a bicycle helmet is "any headgear that either is marketed as, or implied through marketing or promotion to be, a device intended to provide protection from head injuries while riding a bicycle." A footnote explains that helmets marketed for exclusive use in a designated activity, such as skateboarding, rollerblading, baseball or roller hockey, are excluded. But a multi-purpose helmet is covered "if a reasonable consumer could conclude, based on the helmet’s marketing or representations, that bicycling is among the activities in which the helmet is intended to be used." The Commission looks at the activities named, the helmet’s similarity to recognized bicycle helmets, and the warnings.

The standard’s stated purpose, in 1203.2, is "to reduce the likelihood of serious injury and death to bicyclists resulting from impacts to the head." It took effect on March 10, 1999 and applies to helmets manufactured after that date; helmets made from March 17, 1995 through March 10, 1999 are subject to Subpart D instead (1203.1(c)).

The four pass-fail requirements

Section 1203.12 sets the performance numbers. Peripheral vision: "unobstructed vision through a minimum of 105 degrees to the left and right sides of the midsagittal plane." Positional stability: "No bicycle helmet shall come off of the test headform." Retention strength: the retention system must "remain intact without elongating more than 30 mm (1.2 in.)." Impact attenuation: "the peak acceleration of any impact shall not exceed 300 g." The regulation adds that the Commission will test for a "worst case" combination of impact site, anvil, impact order and conditioning environment, with or without attachments supplied with the helmet.

Projections and labeling

Under 1203.5, an unfaired projection extending more than 7 mm (0.28 in.) from the outer surface "shall break away or collapse" when hit with forces equivalent to the impact tests, and no fixture on the inner surface may project more than 2 mm into the interior.

Section 1203.6 requires durable labeling, legible and easily visible, with the model designation and several warnings: that no helmet protects against all possible impacts and serious injury or death could occur; that for maximum protection the helmet must be fitted and attached properly (on both the helmet and the packaging); that a helmet may be damaged by an impact to the point that it no longer protects, possibly without visible damage, so a helmet that has sustained an impact should be returned to the manufacturer for inspection or destroyed and replaced; and that common substances such as solvents (ammonia) or cleaners (bleach) can damage the helmet invisibly, with generic recommended cleaning agents such as mild soap and water. Each warning carries the signal word "WARNING" in all capitals, bold, in type at least as large as the other label text. Every helmet also needs fitting and positioning instructions with a graphic.

How the tests are run

The test schedule in 1203.13 uses a set of eight helmets. Helmet 1 is used for peripheral vision. Helmets are conditioned in four environments: helmets 1 and 5 ambient, 2 and 7 high temperature, 3 and 6 low temperature, 4 and 8 water immersion. Testing must begin within 2 minutes after removal from conditioning, and a helmet out of conditioning more than 3 minutes must be reconditioned. Helmets 1 through 4 are put through the retention test and then the flat and hemispherical anvil impacts; helmet 5 gets the positional stability test; helmets 5 through 8 take the curbstone anvil impact.

The headform is the smallest of the ISO sizes A, E, J, M and O that fits the helmet (1203.10). Retention strength is tested with a 4 kg drop weight released from 0.6 m (2 ft) and elongation recorded. Roll-off resistance applies the same 0.6 m drop of a 4 kg weight, first face down, then face up. In the impact test the drop assembly has a combined mass of 5.0 plus or minus 0.1 kg, and the helmet is dropped on a flat anvil at 6.2 m/s plus or minus 3 percent and on hemispherical and curbstone anvils at 4.8 m/s plus or minus 3 percent. Each of helmets 1 through 4 takes four impacts, two on each of the flat and hemispherical anvils, and the impact centers must be at least 120 mm apart. The accelerometer must withstand at least 1000 g.

Certification and the label

Subpart B makes the manufacturer (which includes the importer) responsible for a "reasonable testing program" run on samples from each production lot; independent third-party testing is allowed but the manufacturer or importer "are responsible for ensuring compliance." If testing shows a helmet may not comply, nothing in that lot can be certified until noncomplying helmets are destroyed or altered. Selling a noncomplying helmet is a prohibited act "regardless of whether the bicycle helmet has been validly certified" (1203.33(b)(5)).

The certificate is the label itself. 1203.34 requires a durable, legible and readily visible label stating "Complies with U.S. CPSC Safety Standard for Bicycle Helmets for Persons Age 5 and Older" or "Complies with U.S. CPSC Safety Standard for Bicycle Helmets for Persons Age 1 and Older (Extended Head Coverage)." It also gives the name, address and telephone number of the U.S. manufacturer or importer or a private labeler, the name and address of any foreign manufacturer, the production lot, and the uncoded month and year of manufacture. If the label is not visible before purchase because of packaging, a second label is required on the packaging.

Records

Subpart C requires every firm issuing certificates to keep records showing its certificates rest on a reasonable testing program for "a period of at least 3 years from the date of certification of the last bicycle helmet in each production lot." Records must be available to the Commission and, if kept elsewhere, produced within 48 hours. The list in 1203.41(b) is long: helmets tested, production lot, results including the precise nature of any failure, actions taken, the helmet positioning index, model and size, environmental conditions, the peripheral vision clearance, impact results with the location, anvil, velocity and maximum g, positional stability and retention results, the laboratory, the people who ran the tests, the date and the instrument system check results.

Worked example

A lab reports a prototype with 108 degrees of vision, 24 mm of retention elongation and a worst-case impact of 285 g. Each reading meets the written value: 108 is at least 105, 24 is not more than 30, 285 is not more than 300. The same helmet with 310 g on the curbstone anvil fails the impact attenuation criterion in 1203.12(d)(2) because one impact exceeded 300 g, whatever the other readings show. A 9 mm external vent edge would need to break away or collapse in the impact tests, because it projects more than 7 mm.

Limits of this page

The checker only compares the numbers you type with the numbers in 1203.5 and 1203.12. It cannot confirm that the tests were run as 1203.13 to 1203.17 describe, and a pass here is not a certificate of compliance. The standard also relies on figures in the eCFR (test lines, apparatus) that this page does not reproduce, and on referenced documents, including the draft ISO 6220-1983 headform standard and SAE J211 OCT88.

Sources

Sources opened and read November 2, 2026.

• eCFR: 16 CFR part 1203, safety standard for bicycle helmets (current through October 29, 2026) (read November 2, 2026)