he next significant milestone in the development of the modern motorcycle helmet was marked by the death of a popular amateur car racer, William "Pete" Snell, who died in 1957 of head injuries his helmet failed to prevent. Helmets had long been required equipment in racing, for both motorcycle racers and car racers, but the construction and safety standards were varied and ungoverned. It's interesting that T.E.Lawrence's death without a helmet caused head injuries to be more carefully studied, but Snell's death while wearing a helmet caused helmets to be investigated more critically.