Helmets DOT vs. Snell vs. ECE -- Help ???

[KNezz]

I’ve done some reading on Motocross Helmets. As I asked an read everything pointed to Snell ratings being more stringent than the DOT ratings. I was at my ATV shop today and saw a helmet that I liked (If forget the manufacturer) that had a DOT rating. I barked a little saying I wanted any helmet I purchased to have a Snell rating. The Tech showed me that it had a DOT rating as well as an ECE rating. He said that the ECE ratings are tougher than the Snell rating.

Any insight?

[WKY400EX]

I'm really not that informed on ECE standards, but I've always understood that Snell standards were stricter than DOT. If I'm not mistaken, Snell does an edge anvil test on their helmets. My last two helmets (Thor/HJC and KBC) have both been Snell/DOT approved. The HJC took a pretty serious hit in a race, but did it's job protecting my head.