E-Bike Helmets: 6.2 Meters per Second Is Not 28 mph

An e-bike helmet is a standard, a coverage line, and a speed people keep mixing up. The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute’s comparison sheet, dated March 2026, puts the CPSC bicycle flat-anvil impact at 6.2 meters per second. Their own translation of that figure is 13.9 mph. The Dutch e-bike standard, NTA 8776, is 6.5 meters per second on the flat anvil, which the same sheet calls 14.6 mph. Class 3 assists to 28 mph. Twenty-eight divided by 13.9 is 2.0. Those are not the same measurement. This desk did not drop a helmet. The page BHSI last touched on 11 August 2026 is the recommendation. The sheet is the arithmetic.

Bicycle vs E-Bike vs Motorcycle Helmets

A bicycle helmet is the CPSC sticker. An “e-bike helmet,” when the words mean anything, is usually NTA 8776, a Dutch standard from 2016. A motorcycle helmet is DOT, which is FMVSS 218. BHSI’s August 2026 page recommends a light motorcycle helmet for an e-bike, or at least NTA 8776. It also says NTA helmets have much less protection than a DOT motorcycle helmet. Three labels. The middle one is not a polite name for the first, and it is not the third. A shopping guide that calls every vented lid an e-bike helmet has not read the sticker inside the shell.

Speed

BHSI’s sentence is the one to keep: the 14 mph figure is the closing speed with the pavement when a rider falls. Forward speed adds a vector, and they say it is not significant as long as the helmet slides. A higher riding speed makes a worse impact more likely. It does not mean the foam “expires” at 14.0 on a speedometer. Class 3 is still 28 mph of assist. A Class 2 is 20. BHSI says bicycle helmets do not provide enough protection consistently for crashes at 20 mph and higher. That is their judgment, dated on the page this desk opened. It is not a statute.

Six and a half divided by 6.2, then squared, is 1.10. The Dutch flat drop is about 10 percent more energy than the CPSC flat drop. BHSI adds that the Dutch rig is the less severe European one, so the two flat tests are probably about equally stringent. On the curb, 5.42 divided by 4.8, then squared, is 1.28. That is about 28 percent more energy, and only on the anvil NTA actually uses. NTA skips the hemispheric anvil. A page that says the Dutch drop is 18 mph, or that CPSC drops a bicycle helmet from 1.0 meter onto the flat anvil, is not this sheet. BHSI’s table pairs 6.2 meters per second with about 2.0 meters of drop.

Certifications

Read the label in the shell. CPSC is the U.S. bicycle law for the helmet, not for the bicycle’s class. NTA 8776 is voluntary. It is not what Ohio checks, and it is not what a California Class 3 stop checks. ASTM F1447 is another bicycle lab standard, at the same 6.2 and 4.8 meters per second as CPSC on this sheet. Snell B-95 is higher on the flat anvil, 6.6 meters per second, about 14.8 mph. Snell L-98, a light-motorcycle attempt from 1998, uses a 2.4-meter flat drop. BHSI’s page still records that, as of September 2015, no helmet was certified to it. This desk will not pretend that note was updated. Virginia Tech’s star ratings are a lab’s ranking. They are not a substitute for the sticker, and a helmet can have one without the other.

MIPS and Similar Systems

MIPS is a slip plane inside some helmets. WaveCel and SPIN are other companies’ answers to the same idea: a rotating impact, not only a straight drop. None of them is CPSC, NTA, or DOT. The photo on this page is a Giro with the word MIPS on the shell. That word does not change 6.2 meters per second. BHSI’s e-bike page, the one from August, does not mention MIPS. A star rating that includes rotation is a separate list. Buy the slip plane if you want it. Do not let it stand in for the standard.

Full Face

A full-face bicycle helmet covers the chin. ASTM F1952, the downhill bicycle standard on this sheet, uses the same 6.2 meters per second on the flat anvil as CPSC, and 5.6 on the hemi and the curb instead of 4.8. Five and six-tenths divided by 4.8, then squared, is 1.36. The extra is those anvils, plus a chin bar the road helmet does not have. It is still not DOT. A motorcycle full-face with a DOT sticker is the lid BHSI is pointing at when they say “light motorcycle,” and this sheet does not give that sticker a speed. An e-moto that does 40 mph is not a bicycle. The class chart is the line. A downhill bicycle helmet does not move a Sur-Ron onto the bicycle side of it.

Ventilation

Holes are comfort. They are also missing shell. NTA’s difference, on BHSI’s description, is not a much harder flat drop. It is coverage: the test line is only 2.5 millimeters lower in front than CPSC, and much lower on the sides and the back. More helmet around the temples and the rear, which usually means fewer places for air. A DOT motorcycle helmet vents less than a road lid because the job is the hit, not a 20-mile path in July. If you will not wear the closed one, it does not matter that the standard is stricter. An unworn helmet has a drop speed of zero.

Fit

The lab’s test line assumes the helmet is on the head the way the standard drew it. Level, not tipped back to expose the forehead. Straps that meet under the ear, snug enough that the shell does not roll forward onto the brow. A helmet that rocks is a helmet that has moved the foam off the place the anvil was aimed. Pads and a dial change the fit. They do not change the sticker. If the size run skips your head, the next standard down is not the answer. A loose DOT helmet is a DOT helmet in a bag.

Visibility

A color is not a certification. Fluorescent paint is for daylight. Reflective bits are for someone else’s headlight. Neither one changes 6.2 meters per second. A white road helmet on a car roof, which is this page’s photo, is easier to see than a black one in a shade tree, and it is still a bicycle lid. Buy the color you will actually put on. A hi-vis helmet in a closet has the same impact speed as no helmet.

Lights

A light on the helmet is not the CPSC label, and it is not a substitute for a light on the bicycle after dark. The kit page is the rest of that argument. A helmet lamp that needs a charge can be dark on the ride home. The shell does not know. Do not count the lamp toward the drop speed.

Smart Helmets

A speaker, a brake light, or a turn signal clipped to a shell is an accessory. It is not NTA, and it is not DOT. If the shell underneath has a CPSC sticker, the drop is the CPSC drop. The lamp did not move it to 6.5 meters per second. If the shell has no sticker, the electronics are a gadget on an untested hat. This desk does not have a current price for one of these, so it will not invent one. Buy the standard first. Then decide if you want a light that can go dead.

When to Replace

A crash ends the helmet. The foam is built to crush once. A second hit is not the test the sticker describes. A year printed inside the shell is the company’s rule. BHSI’s e-bike page does not give a replacement interval, and this desk will not borrow a five-year line from a product tag and call it CPSC. Sun, sweat, and a strap that has gone slack are reasons to stop trusting the fit. They are not a new impact speed. If you dropped it on the pavement, including a drop you walked away from, it is done.

Choosing by Riding Type

The statute’s minimum is not the lab’s recommendation. Both can be true.

A path ride on a Class 1, under 20 mph, is where a CPSC road helmet is the thing most riders already own. BHSI still puts e-bikes, including that speed, on the side of the line where they want NTA or a light DOT helmet. Print both. The law in a lot of states only requires a helmet under 16, or on a Class 3. Ohio already requires one for every Class 3 rider and passenger. Mentor requires one on every class, and that ordinance is in effect. Senate Bill 477 would say “helmet” without saying which class, and it is not law. A child on a cargo bike needs their own certified helmet. The parent’s lid does not cover the passenger. A dirt bike with no pedals and a 40 mph claim is the DOT column, not the Giro on the car. The sticker you need is the one for the machine you are actually riding, not the sticker that matches the brochure’s favorite word.