The purpose and basis of this subpart is to protect bicyclists from head injuries by ensuring that bicycle helmets comply with the requirements of appropriate existing voluntary standards, as provided in 15 U.S.C. 6004(a).
(a) This subpart D is effective March 17, 1995, except for § 1203.53(a)(8), which is effective March 10, 1998. This subpart D shall apply to bicycle helmets manufactured from March 17, 1995, through March 10, 1999, inclusive. Such bicycle helmets shall comply with the requirements of one of the standards specified in § 1203.53. This subpart shall be considered a consumer product safety standard issued under the Consumer Product Safety Act.
(b) The term “bicycle helmet” is defined at § 1203.4(b).
(c) These interim mandatory safety standards will not apply to bicycle helmets manufactured after March 10, 1999. Those helmets are subject to the requirements of Subparts A through C of this part 1203.
(a) Bicycle helmets must comply with one or more of the following standards. The standards in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(7) of this section are incorporated herein by reference:
(1) American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard Z90.4-1984, Protective Headgear for Bicyclists,
(2) ASTM standards F 1447-93 or F 1447-94, Standard Specification for Protective Headgear Used in Bicycling, incorporating the relevant provisions of ASTM F 1446-93 or ASTM F 1446-94, Standard Test Methods for Equipment and Procedures Used in Evaluating the Performance Characteristics of Protective Headgear, respectively,
(3) Canadian Standards Association standard, Cycling Helmets—CAN/CSA-D113.2-M89,
(4) Snell Memorial Foundation (Snell) 1990 Standard for Protective Headgear for Use in Bicycling (designation B-90),
(5) Snell 1990 Standard for Protective Headgear for Use in Bicycling, including March 9, 1994 Supplement (designation B-90S),
(6) Snell 1994 Standard for Protective Headgear for Use in Non-Motorized Sports (designation N-94), or
(7) Snell 1995 standard for Protective Headgear for Use with Bicycles B-95.
(8) Subparts A through C of this part 1203.
(b) The incorporation by reference of the standards listed in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(7) are approved by the Director of the Federal Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. Copies of the standards may be obtained as follows. Copies of the ANSI Z90.4 standard are available from: American National Standards Institute, 11 W. 42nd Street, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10036. Copies of the ASTM standards are available from: ASTM, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959. Copies of the Canadian Standards Association CAN/CSA-D113.2-M89 standard are available from: CSA, 178 Rexdale Boulevard, Rexdale (Toronto), Ontario, Canada, M9W 1R3. Copies of the Snell standards are available from: Snell Memorial Foundation, Inc., 6731-A 32nd Street, North Highlands, CA 95660. Copies may be inspected at the Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, or at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.