NEW helmet safety regulations on the way. Changes to testing to make helmets SAFER

The UN body which sets safety standards for motorcycle helmets is updating its key approval regulation this year.

The ECE 22-05 test regime has been in place for nearly two decades now, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) has been working on a new ECE 22-06 test regime to keep up with the latest technology and research.

There are a few main elements to the new 22-06 rules. The impact tests – where helmets are dropped on to special test anvils and the impact forces measured by test head forms – will now take place at a wider range of velocities and at more points on the helmet outer shell (up by 12 to 18 in total). A new slow-speed impact test will measure how helmets work in smaller or secondary impacts, and the maximum impact test velocity is increased from 7.5m/s to 8.2m/s. The visor impact test is also tougher.

There’s also a new ‘rotational’ test, which will measure the rotating or twisting forces transmitted to your head in a crash. These forces are suspected of causing serious brain injuries, so the new 22-06 test will examine how much rotation force a helmet passes on in a glancing impact.

Helmets with sharp protrusions or edges can fare worse, ‘jerking’ the head round when they catch on a surface. Smoother, rounder outer shell shapes should do better here.

Flip-front helmets, internal sun visors and official add-on accessories will also now be tested as part of the ECE regulations. Flipfront lids will be tested with the chin bar in different positions, and sun-visors have to pass new light transmission tests.

Official accessories, like Bluetooth adapters, internal speakers, intercoms and the like will also now be tested in place on the helmet, to see if they affect the safety performance of the helmet.

The first ECE 22-06 approved helmets could be on the shelves later this year, but 22-05 approved helmets will remain legal to use and stay on the approved list, in the same way as BSI-marked helmets did when that test was deprecated.