APPROVALS
After reading this we hope that the wonderful world of motorcycle helmet standards will be completely clear to you!
- Motorcycle and Scooter Helmets
A little reminder: Wearing a helmet is mandatory!
Your motorcycle helmet is your best protection in the event of a crash. So from a safety perspective as well as a legal one; do not overlook this essential piece of kit, mandated by a number of regulations:
Article R431-1
Amended by Decree No 2006-46 of 13 January 2006 - art. 4 JORF 15 January 2006
In traffic, any driver or passenger of a motorcycle, motor tricycle, quad bike or moped must be wearing an approved helmet. The helmet must be securely fastened to the rider's head.
Drivers or passengers who violate the terms of this section shall be punished by a fine for offences of the fourth class.
In accordance with article L. 431-1, a driver who is not wearing an approved helmet or does not have the helmet properly and securely attached to their head while their motorcycle vehicle's engine is running can be stopped in accordance with articles L. 325-1 à L. 325-3.
When this offence is committed by the driver, it automatically incurs a 3 point penalty to their license.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to drivers or passengers wearing seat belts which were approved at the time of the vehicle's manufacture as a sufficient safety measure. - Standards and Approvals:
A motorcycle helmet must be approved, meaning it must meet certain standards. These standards are the minimum requirements established by the agreement between manufacturers and representatives of civil society and governments.
In France the standard NF S 72.305 has now become obsolete (since around 15 years ago), replaced by the European standard E22 which has been adopted by all European countries as well as many others around the world.
The motorcycle helmet standard is indicated on a label usually sewn into the chin.
A helmet meets the requirements of the European standard when presenting this type of label:
The label shows a circle which is attached the letter E followed by the distinguishing number of the country which has granted approval and the approval number.
The number after the letter E indicates the country which granted approval, some of which are listed below:
- 1 for Germany
- 2 for France
- 3 for Italy
- 4 for Netherlands
- 5 for Sweden
- 6 for Belgium
- 7 for Hungary
- 8 for Czech Republic
- 9 for Spain
- etc…
On the second line an approval number starting with 05 or 04 indicates the standard the helmet conforms to (04 for 22-04 and 05 for 22-05).
Since the advent of Amendment 05 of the standard 22, the addition of a letter lets you know the result of a protective jaw test which the helmet was subjected to:
- J no jaw protection (open face helmets)
- NP indicates that the helmet does not meet the tests standards for jaw protection (some flip up helmets)
- P guarantees a protective chin guard (full-face helmets)
- J/P or P/J indicates the double approval and of full-face and open-face configurations
The last numbers corresponds to the production serial number.
Let's see if you've been listening!...
Describe the approval of the label:
**The answer is at the bottom of the page
And what about the the rest of the world?
- United States, uses the DOT FMVSS 218 standard (for Department of Transportation Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218), the only official standard, to which Snell M2005 or M2010 (most recent) may be added to, which exceed the requirements of the standard Department of Transportation (DOT).
- Canada also accepts CAN3-D230 Canadian Standards Association Standards.
- Japan JIS T 8133 standard.
- Australia the SAIG standard.
Answer to our helmet approval test:
** The label shows that the helmet is European standard approved, issued by France and conforms to the 22-05 standard.
The letter P means that this is a helmet that guarantees chin protection.
Easy, isn't it?