UK Reveals New Safety Ratings for Motorcycle Helmets

An additional number of sixteen motorcycle helmet models have been rated by SHARP - the Department for Transport's Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme - taking the total number of ratings published to 218, the UK’s DfT announced today.

All helmets must meet minimum legal safety standards but the SHARP scheme uses a wider range of tests to provide riders with more information on how much protection a helmet can provide in a crash.

The objective advice, which includes important guidance on how to select a good fitting helmet, will help riders to choose the safest helmet suitable for them. The SHARP tests - which award ratings of between one and five stars - showed that the safety performance of helmets can vary by as much as 70%.

"We estimate that 50 deaths could be prevented each year if all riders wore the safest helmets available. That is why I am delighted to be announcing new SHARP ratings today ahead of my visit to the Motorcycle Show next week. I urge anyone going to the show who is thinking about buying a new helmet to visit the SHARP stand to find out more,” stated Road Safety Minister Mike Penning.

"By making sure that motorcyclists have access to the best safety information, promoting further training and safe riding, and reminding drivers to look out for bikers I hope that we can improve safety for motorcyclists and reduce the number of tragedies we see on the roads each year," Penning added.

The new ratings released today are:

1 GREX R2 - 4
2 NITRO N250-VX - 4
3 LAZER KITE - 4
4 LAZER SOLANO Superskin - 4
5 LAZER PANAME - 4
6 LS2 FF369 Delta - 3
7 SHARK RSI CARBON - 4
8 SHARK S600 - 4
9 BELL M3R - 5
10 SHOEI QWEST - 5
11 HJC FS-11 - 3
12 HJC ZF10 - 4
13 NOLAN N90 - 4
14 NOLAN N85 - 4
15 CABERG V2 407 - 5
16 VEMAR MIDAS - 1