SHARP Helmet Safety Scheme

SHARP - “Saving lives from Spring 2008″

So, how do you know if a helmet is up to the task? Do you go by brand reputation? I know I did. I had a Shark as my first helmet (mainly down to Ian showing me his visor trick, where he gets a Shark visor and bends it backwards over his knee, showing how resistant to shattering it is.) I always knew that brands like Shoei, Arai and AGV were a safe bet, as they were the most recognised. However, that may now not be the case.

The British Standard tests that were used before did look for safety, but didn’t really test the helmets in a way that was beneficial to us. Now there is a new helmet safety scheme called SHARP, and it aims to provide valuable information to us about what helmets are the best at protecting the most vital part of our body.

It is a star based rating setup, with 1 stars being crap and 5 stars being the best and the range of tests far exceeds the original BS tests. There are 2 main types of testing, Linear and Oblique Impact tests, which submit the helmets, which are standard out the bike shop helmets, to a variety of “real world” impacts, such as hitting a kerb stone or grating the helmet along the road. They use the same helmet for all the tests thus allowing them to truly see how a helmet fairs through the tests, and gives them a star rating based on it’s performance.

You can sign up to receive the information on an initial batch of helmet tests, so head over there to sign up. I have heard through the grapevine that some of the bigger names, the ones that we all associate with being the best and safest, have actually performed below average. I am really looking forward to seeing just how my helmets perform in the tests, my AGV GP-Tech (AGV’s top of the line helmet) my Shoei XR-1000 (2nd top in Shoei’s range) and the Shark S800 (mid table helmet), and also Blair’s Schuberth and the girl’s AGV’s.

Click on the picture below to head straight to the site.

Thanks for looking folks, and look for the update when the SHARP results are released!!

 
Gordon

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