At a minimum, what should motorcycle helmets comply with?

Motorcycle helmets are designed to protect riders' heads in the event of an accident, and to ensure their effectiveness, they must meet established safety standards. The correct response identifies that a minimum requirement for helmets is compliance with DOT standards, which is established by the U.S. Department of Transportation. These standards set rigorous testing protocols that ensure helmets provide adequate protection against impacts, and they are the most recognized in the United States for motorcycle helmets.

While there are other standards, such as ECE (making it more prevalent in Europe), NFPA (related to firefighting gear), and ANSI (focused on general safety equipment), these do not specifically classify motorcycle helmets for street legality in the same way that DOT standards do in the U.S. Therefore, wearing a helmet that complies with DOT standards ensures not only compliance with the law in many states but also that it has been tested for the necessary impact protection and durability required for motorcycle riding.