While I wouldn't personally buy a Chinese helmet due to the potential QC issues, I will bring up a counterpoint to all the "pay for protection of your most valuable asset - your head" :
You can buy US-branded helmets for <$20 on Amazon that by law, are CPSC certified. Here's one for $17.
http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Womens-Thalia-Times-Helmet/dp/B00VG3DL5Q/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1448990630&sr=8-8&keywords=bike+helmet
In the recent past, paying like $100+ for a bike helmet does generally does not increase safety to your skull in a crash compared to these lower-priced helmets. So while the helmet manufacturers would LOVE for you to believe that the amount of safety you get is directly commensurate to how much you pay for your helmet, it's likely not true at all. You pay for styling, weight, airflow, but in terms of increased safety, I haven't seen much that shows more expensive helmets are significantly safer than other cheaper CPSC.helmets.
I'll have to check out those recs above about newer helmets performing better on safety - that would be a good thing.
You can buy US-branded helmets for <$20 on Amazon that by law, are CPSC certified. Here's one for $17.
http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Womens-Thalia-Times-Helmet/dp/B00VG3DL5Q/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1448990630&sr=8-8&keywords=bike+helmet
In the recent past, paying like $100+ for a bike helmet does generally does not increase safety to your skull in a crash compared to these lower-priced helmets. So while the helmet manufacturers would LOVE for you to believe that the amount of safety you get is directly commensurate to how much you pay for your helmet, it's likely not true at all. You pay for styling, weight, airflow, but in terms of increased safety, I haven't seen much that shows more expensive helmets are significantly safer than other cheaper CPSC.helmets.
I'll have to check out those recs above about newer helmets performing better on safety - that would be a good thing.