Helmet Legality............
Discussion
Was in a bike gear shop today looking at various bits of kit (as you do) and the salesman told me that my Arai helmet was no longer legal as it is BS approved (BS6658 - Blue sticker) and that this is no longer legal, that ALL helmets used on the road must carry the newer 'E' approval sticker or I would be liable to an £80 fine, if stopped by Plod!!
Now I can understand that this may be the case for helmets sold today but how can this make a top-of-the-range helmet from, arguably, the best helmet manufacturer illegal?
By his reckoning a new £40 'E' marked helmet from some dodgy 3rd world manufacturer would be 'acceptable' whilst my £450 Arai RX7 (admittedly not new but still in good nick) is not - I know which I'd rather crash in.
So is this true, or is it as I suspect that the old BS standard is still OK for use and they were just trying to sell me a new lid?
Not that I'm bothered about the legality, otherwise I wouldn't have a dark visor, loud pipes, small no plate or exceed the speed limit.....
Now I can understand that this may be the case for helmets sold today but how can this make a top-of-the-range helmet from, arguably, the best helmet manufacturer illegal?
By his reckoning a new £40 'E' marked helmet from some dodgy 3rd world manufacturer would be 'acceptable' whilst my £450 Arai RX7 (admittedly not new but still in good nick) is not - I know which I'd rather crash in.
So is this true, or is it as I suspect that the old BS standard is still OK for use and they were just trying to sell me a new lid?
Not that I'm bothered about the legality, otherwise I wouldn't have a dark visor, loud pipes, small no plate or exceed the speed limit.....
Edited by catso on Friday 13th October 22:16
There are so many rules now it's difficult to obey them all. I've just been fined £80 for not taxing a bike frame I've got in my garage. I'm hardly likely to go for a ride on a bike with no engine or wheels, am I?
As for whether or not it's legal to use a helmet without an E mark. Who knows? There's probably some clause allowing you to be thrown into gaol in the new road safety bill.
Sorry for the rant but I feel like I'm slipping into criminality despite myself.
As for whether or not it's legal to use a helmet without an E mark. Who knows? There's probably some clause allowing you to be thrown into gaol in the new road safety bill.
Sorry for the rant but I feel like I'm slipping into criminality despite myself.
I must say criminality has its upside. Being irresponsible is somehow liberating. My bike hasn't had an mot for two months and whenever I ride it I get this fantastic UPYOURS I'm too cool for skool feeling.
Whenever I hear some tosspot bureaucrat waffing on about road safety I get the urge to set fire to a GATSO. Now that would be fun.
Whenever I hear some tosspot bureaucrat waffing on about road safety I get the urge to set fire to a GATSO. Now that would be fun.
Having just shelled out £170 on a new lid (since Mr. Bob Heath no longer lists visors for my 1980's Centurion) I can tell you I was a tad miffed to see 'Made in China' inside it.
Whenever I resprayed the Centurion I used to carefully peel off the BS label and stick it back on afterwards
Whenever I resprayed the Centurion I used to carefully peel off the BS label and stick it back on afterwards
catso said:
Was in a bike gear shop today looking at various bits of kit (as you do) and the salesman told me that my Arai helmet was no longer legal as it is BS approved (BS6658 - Blue sticker) and that this is no longer legal, that ALL helmets used on the road must carry the newer 'E' approval sticker or I would be liable to an £80 fine, if stopped by Plod!!
Now I can understand that this may be the case for helmets sold today but how can this make a top-of-the-range helmet from, arguably, the best helmet manufacturer illegal?
By his reckoning a new £40 'E' marked helmet from some dodgy 3rd world manufacturer would be 'acceptable' whilst my £450 Arai RX7 (admittedly not new but still in good nick) is not - I know which I'd rather crash in.
So is this true, or is it as I suspect that the old BS standard is still OK for use and they were just trying to sell me a new lid?
Not that I'm bothered about the legality, otherwise I wouldn't have a dark visor, loud pipes, small no plate or exceed the speed limit.....
Now I can understand that this may be the case for helmets sold today but how can this make a top-of-the-range helmet from, arguably, the best helmet manufacturer illegal?
By his reckoning a new £40 'E' marked helmet from some dodgy 3rd world manufacturer would be 'acceptable' whilst my £450 Arai RX7 (admittedly not new but still in good nick) is not - I know which I'd rather crash in.
So is this true, or is it as I suspect that the old BS standard is still OK for use and they were just trying to sell me a new lid?
Not that I'm bothered about the legality, otherwise I wouldn't have a dark visor, loud pipes, small no plate or exceed the speed limit.....
Edited by catso on Friday 13th October 22:16
Sounds to me like someone trying to make a sale! Total Billy BS!
Regs were changed a few years ago to permit ECE labelled helmets too.
My understanding is that helmets are legal to use in the UK with British Standard BS 6658 or the newer ECE 22.05 markings applied. I don't remember any MCN campains or other news outlawing previously perfectly legal helmets. If that were the case do you not think there would have been a massive ad campain to get everyone to change helmets LOL.
sjtscott said:
My understanding is that helmets are legal to use in the UK with British Standard BS 6658 or the newer ECE 22.05 markings applied.
Yep, that's my understanding too.
Moreover, the old British Standard is more stringent than the newer ECE one. So you're better off buying a BS 6658 marked lid.
SVS said:
Moreover, the old British Standard is more stringent than the newer ECE one. So you're better off buying a BS 6658 marked lid.
IIRC until the ECE regulation was adopted an ECE Helmet was definitely not legal here, not that it stopped me using an Italian bought AGV over here.
catso said:
SVS said:
Moreover, the old British Standard is more stringent than the newer ECE one. So you're better off buying a BS 6658 marked lid.
IIRC until the ECE regulation was adopted an ECE Helmet was definitely not legal here, not that it stopped me using an Italian bought AGV over here.
ECE 22.04 (the previous euro standard) was never legal to use in the UK as it wasn't close to the same levels of testing as the BSI one. 22.05 however is a comparable standard to the BS 6658 std hence it being approved to use here.
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