Now that’s a really bright idea…

‘Should you sacrifice coolness for nerdy safety?’

Granted this is an odd question to find in ‘Law’, but bear with: what is the best colour for a motorcycle helmet?

The obvious answer is the one you like the most, but the United Kingdom Highway Code says motorcyclists: should wear a light or brightly coloured helmet. Yet, it neglects to say why. Turn to Rule 86 and you will discover it helps car drivers see you, or at least it might… From a purely legal perspective not following the Highway Code could, ‘make out an arguable case for alleging contributory negligence’. However, in the strangled language of lawyers I have never heard this raised as an argument, because it is absurd. If you could not see the motorcycle because the rider had a black helmet on, then you could not have been looking. Mean and moody This is especially pertinent these days as most current bikes cannot be ridden with the headlight unilluminated. So while it is unlikely you will face legal consequences for wearing a matte black helmet, should you sacrifice mean and moody coolness for nerdy, and perhaps illusory, safety?

On my road bikes, which are all adventure style, I have auxiliary lights fitted. There are two studies which show these do make a difference to drivers’ perception of motorcycles. The evidence as to light-coloured helmets is thin to nonexistent.

My motorcycle helmets range in colour from matte black to bright white. My own eyes certainly indicate to me a fluorescent green helmet is more visible than matte black. And it can do no harm to wear a bright coloured or white helmet. However, on a large motorcycle with auxiliary lights I do not feel compelled to do so. I am visible to anyone who looks and invisible to anyone who does not look, whatever my colour of helmet.

Contrast

However, there is much to be said for non-uniformity of colour, that is motorcycle/ helmet/clothing; a light silver motorcycle ridden wearing a white helmet would have very little contrast to the front of a white truck which might be immediately behind the motorcycle. If the rider had a mid-blue helmet, and a jacket with red shoulder detailing that rider becomes a contrast against the front of the truck. A rider all in black, wearing a mid grey helmet and on a graphite motorcycle has almost no contrast to the road surface, but would contrast to the front of the truck.

In my experience there is a common type of urban collision, where the rider is bimbling along with a large vehicle behind them. The driver’s eye is drawn to the big thing and does not perceive the small thing and the driver, satisfied the big thing is far enough away, pulls out in front of the little thing. And that little thing could be me or you.

For the riders of relatively slow machines, and in particular learners, contrast and brightness is a good idea. Because the rider of a 50cc scooter is going to be consistently overtaken, and their rear illumination is a single red LED bulb, presenting a large contrasting surface area of the human back and a bright coloured helmet to drivers who are not necessarily concentrating that hard strikes me as a good idea.