Safety Motorcycle Helmet

All over the globe, safety regulations are in place to protect drivers and pedestrians. In a society, where vehicle accidents are rife, it is very important to protect oneself and others. Since the motorcycle is considered one of the most hazardous vehicles, mainly for the driver, as there is no protective cloak of metal; there are a number of laws in place to protect the individual. The laws cover equipment for a motorcyclist. They must be up to a certain standard; otherwise it is illegal to wear them. One of the items of equipment is the visor - a protective surface attached to the helmet that protects motorcyclist eyes against bright sunlight and glare.

In the U.K laws state any visor used must be approved. To prove that it is up to British standards, it will have either a BS4110 or an EC regulation 22 type 5 mark. The latter, a mark that shows that it is a legally safe helmet, is one of the only helmets legally accepted in the U.K.

Most of Europe follows the same guidelines of standards as Britain, but laws still may defer. The USA does not have as strict standards as the U.K on helmet regulations; however, there are variations from state to state on what is acceptable.

In the U.K, a visor is allowed to be tinted, but it should only ever be 50% tinted at most, so that your vision is not obscured in any way. It is breaking the law in the U.K, if you either use a 50% onwards tinted visor or use a tinted visor whilst it is still dark. Tinted visors are only ever meant for daytime use to protect the driver from glare, but if used during the evening or night, your vision might be obscured, in turn causing a fatal accident.

Visors are there, however, not only to aid vision in bright sunlight but to protect the motorcyclist from outside harm, such as dust in the wind. There a few variations of visors available on the market, including the clear visor, the coloured, tinted, smoked, iridium and coloured. All but the clear visor aim to filter sunlight, so that in bright sunny conditions you are not blinded when driving along. Each visor that aims to filter sunlight has different properties; hence, one might filter light better than another one. It's always best to check to what extent they filter light, so that you can decide what the most suitable visor is for you. Remember to take into account local weather conditions and seasonal change and how this might affect your sight when on a motorcycle.

It is recommended that in winter, when it is less likely to be sunny, to use a clear visor with anti-fog and anti-scratch properties. An excellent idea may be to buy two visors, one clear and one that filters light and carry them around with you whenever you are on your motorcycle just to be safe.