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Norwood, Mass., June 8, 2000 -- In reaction to the recently
announced American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Ski Helmet Draft
Standard, the nation�s number one ski and snowboard helmet distributor, Boeri
Sport USA, today announced that the company will take all necessary actions
to ensure that all of the Boeri helmets conform to the new, more rigorous
standards by the 2001/2002 season, the first season that the proposed
regulations will take full affect. Boeri represents 51% of all helmets sold
in the U.S.
According to Marc Hauser, president of Boeri Sport USA, although the
approved draft is not yet published, the company is the industry�s first to
voluntarily comply, and has already started the laborious task of testing
each of the company�s eight models (the most on the market.) Hauser expects
the draft will be published in late summer/early fall and begin to become
recognized and referenced. However, all compliance is voluntary until, if
ever, the standard becomes law.
"Boeri will embrace the new, tougher standard, and will ensure that
all new helmet designs will comply, providing the highest quality product for
our customers," said Hauser. "Our goal is to hit the snow in the
fall of 2001 with a fully certified product line."
Boeri manufacturing has retained the services of the CSI laboratory in
Milan, Italy -- the governing lab for all CE ski helmet standardization -- to
perform the conditioning and impact testing of the 2000/2001 production to
the new ASTM requirements. For the coming season, Boeri plans on testing each
of its eight models, each with as many as six sizes, and will release press
statements on all conforming products as the results are received.
"In anticipation of the standard, we discontinued our Chop model for
the 2000/2001 season, as we expected it may fall short of the ASTM
regulations," said Hauser.
As testing is completed in Italy, all conforming models for the 00/01
season will be appropriately marked for consumers.
About Helmet Standards
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The CE Standard was created for the purpose of
reducing the frequency of the most commonly occurring wintersport related
head injuries, the mild concussion. The test requires that a helmet be
mounted on a headform and dropped from a certain height onto a flat metal
platform called an anvil. The CE standard is limited to the flat anvil, which
is intended to duplicate the snow or ice on the trail.
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The ASTM standard is slightly more difficult to pass,
as it requires the helmeted headform to be dropped onto three different
shaped anvils and the impact managed effectively despite the different anvil
shape.
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According to Boeri Sport USA, prudent manufacturers
will be able to adjust production to conform to the requirements.
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Currently CPSC recommends the use of ski and
snowboard helmets, "although all three standards (CE, SNELL, ASTM draft)
differ in their test parameters and methodologies, a ski helmet that meets
any one of the three standards will provide adequate protection to reduce the
risk of head injury." (CPSC study, page 10)
About Boeri
Boeri Sport USA is a division of MPH Associates Inc., the sole U.S.
distributor of Boeri Ski and Snowboard Helmets.� Manufactured just
outside of Milan, Italy, the Boeri brand is known for producing protective headgear
for more than 36 years, and is dedicated to quality and innovation. For more
information or a dealer near you, please visit the Boeri Sport USA Web site
at https://www.boeriusa.com.
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