Helmets and the 2010 Solo season

Snell M2010 rated helmets are now available. SCCA has mandated that M95 helmets will no longer be legal for SCCA Solo competition beginning January 1st, 2010.

The SA2010 rating has not been released, and therefore SA95 helmets are legal for 2010, and the current schedule is that they will no longer be legal after January 1st, 2011.

The Solo rules require a Snell rated helmet of the current rating or the previous two ratings (SFI standards 31.1, 41.1, 31.1A, 31.2A, 41.1A, 41.2A and British spec BS6658-85 type A/FR are also legal). Snell comes in two flavors, M and SA, and either was legal for Solo. For the first time, Snell has released the new ratings at different times (long story, google it), and now we must distinguish between the two ratings.

Normally, Snell ratings are available in the year of issue (1995, 2000, 2005) and goes into production during that year. At the END of that year is when the other rating is retired. So we expect an M95/SA95 helmet to be good until the end of 2010. That, however is not the case this time.

To summarize:

M95 rating: good until 12/31/2009.

SA95 rating good until 12/31/2010.

M2000/SA2000 rating good until 12/31/2015 (predicted)

M2005/SA2005 rating good until 12/31/2020 (predicted)

M2010/SA2010 rating is good until 12/31/2015 (predicted)

We say “predicted” because the 2010 spec was the first time we’ve seen the M and SA rating issued at different dates. If you are retiring an M95 helmet for Solo, we suggest an M2010, M2005, or SA2005 (SA offering more protection at a higher purchase cost).

As a final note, an SA95 or M2000 helmet will be the minimum rating as of January 1st, 2010.