Everything about the ECE 22.06 helmet inspection and the previous ECE 22.05 standard

Origin of the ECE Inspection

Until 1982, there were no regulations on the obligation to wear a motorcycle helmet. There were also no minimum safety standards that a motorcycle or scooter helmet had to meet. It was the “Economic Commission for Europe” (ECE for short) that prioritized the importance of traffic safety for motorcyclists and proposed the first ECE 22 inspection and helmet obligation in 1972. This was not well received by motorcyclists and was seen as an infringement on civil liberties and the motorcyclist’s right to self-expression. It was not until 1982 that the helmet law and the meanwhile revised ECE 22.02 inspection were introduced. The commission developed a series of tests that would determine the minimum safety for an approved helmet. If your helmet did not pass the test, you were not awarded the ECE inspection label and consequently, you were not allowed to bring the helmet to the European market. Since the origin of the ECE mark, there have been several updates thanks to the uninterrupted quest for safety.

In 1988, the second update came in the form of ECE 22.03, which introduced attention to the opening angle of the visor and the introduction of the roll-off test. This was to ensure that an ECE approved helmet would not just come off your head during an accident. In 1991, additional tests were added to the ECE 22.03 inspection related to the optical and mechanical qualities of the visor. And in 1995, a full update quickly followed with the ECE 22.04 inspection. The buckles of the chin strap were tested and checked thoroughly. In addition, limits were determined for the shock absorption tests.

Other inspection labels and the safety rating of helmets

DOT FMVSS No.218

In the United States, they work based on the DOT certification, developed by the “Department of Transportation”. The “Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard” FMVSS 218 applies to helmets used on public roads.

Helmet manufacturers are responsible for testing their own helmets and making them safe for public use. The FMVSS applies the standard by sending various helmets to independent labs for inspection. If the new helmet does not pass the inspection then the manufacturer will be fined for bringing a substandard product to market.

Snell inspection

The Snell Memorial Foundation is a non-profit organization from the US, named after William “Pete” Snell. A car pilot who died in 1956 as a result of the head injuries he sustained in a crash because the helmet he wore did not provide sufficient protection. The foundation was established in 1957 by some of his friends, scientists, and doctors. Dedicated to improving the minimum safety requirements of helmets.

To do this, they go beyond the bodies that provide DOT approval. They do this by assisting helmet manufacturers during development and by testing their prototypes. By remaining independent from helmet manufacturers, they ensure neutrality. Any manufacturer who wants their helmet to have the Snell certification can have it tested by the Snell Foundation.

Depending on the type of motorsport for which the helmet is approved, the helmet must undergo various tests and the approval label gets a different letter code. For motorsport, this is M. When the helmet is approved, it receives the Snell M2020 approval label. After this, nothing else can be adjusted in the helmet’s production process. Unless the helmet goes through the approval process again after the adjustment. If the helmet still fails in recurring tests, then the label will be withdrawn. The Snell approval is not mandatory by the government, but it is required for motorcycle helmets at competition level. This is because Snell sets higher standards for helmets than DOT.

FIM Inspection

FIM is a new European safety certification that focuses solely on helmets for motorcycle races. In full, this is “Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme”. The FIM tests are more stringent than those of other certification bodies. They only test full-face helmets and were the first to test rotational force, as this causes the most brain damage. In MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3, all helmets must be approved by the FIM. This is because the FIM certification introduced a number of new tests and now we have the ECE 22.06 certification with similar tests to measure rotational force.

SHARP-rating

In full, this is the “Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme”. Established in 2007 and appointed by the British government to carry out additional quality assessments in order to make motor traffic in the United Kingdom safer. We are not talking about an inspection, but an institution that takes another close look at all helmets already approved by ECE. In this way, each helmet is assigned its own score. The score ranges from 1 to 5 stars. Here, 1 star is the lowest score and 5 stars is the highest score. A 5-star helmet will provide the best possible protection. This does not mean that a 1-star helmet does not provide protection, it just provides the minimum required protection. This is also approved for use on public roads.

Their tests have shown that there are significant differences in the level of protection among helmets. It is still up to the motorcyclist to make a choice. SHARP provides independent advice so that we can all make a well-informed decision with safety as the main goal.

Current ECE 22.05 approval

Since 2003, the ECE 22.05 inspection has been the standard in Europe. The ECE certification is one of the most applied safety standards among motorcycle helmets worldwide.

The current ECE 22.05 certification standard includes a number of tests that a helmet must pass before it is awarded the certification label. These tests check shock absorption, rigidity, wear resistance and the potential influence of environmental factors. These tests are carried out at different temperatures (-20, 20 and 50 degrees Celsius). The reaction of the helmet shell to certain chemical solvents is tested. The visor is then subjected to optical tests and the chin strap and closure undergo a strength test. The rigidity test assesses at how much pressure the helmet shell will deform or break.

Finally, there are impact tests to check whether the energy of the impact is sufficiently absorbed by the helmet to deem it ‘safe’. For this, they use a magnesium head with built-in sensors on which they place the helmet. These tests are determined based on 6 impact points on the helmet. Jet helmets do not have a chin guard, so they only have 5 impact points. The helmet is launched at a speed of 7.5 m/s onto 2 different anvils; a flat and a pointed anvil. In this case, no more than 275g of force should act on the head. The threshold value measures the delay in G-force. This is the amount of energy that is transferred to the skull. There is also a maximum value of 2400 HIC (Head Injury Criterion) that may not be exceeded during these tests. HIC measures the impact on the head. It is calculated from the acceleration, the force, and the duration of it. The higher this value, the greater the risk of brain damage. If this value is too high, our brains will violently hit the inside of our skull, resulting in irreversible damage.

It is the ECE 22.05 standard that has determined the safety of motorcycle helmets in recent years. In June 2020, a new homologation standard for motorcycle helmets was approved, namely ECE 22.06. With this new update, we are ensured that helmets have become even safer.

New ECE 22.06 Inspection

In recent years, various inspection bodies have taught us that there are still plenty of factors on which we can test motorcycle helmets. These new tests have been developed to simulate possible accidents that we can encounter in daily traffic. As everything continues to evolve, this new homologation standard is set to eliminate and improve the weak points of the previous ECE 22.05 inspection where possible. They have done this through the following improvements.

More impact points

They no longer stick to 6 impact points, but they have expanded to 18 points that can be tested. During the ECE 22.05 inspection, the 6 points were fixed, which caused cheap brands to focus on these points. By making the helmet sturdy enough at these 6 points, they were sure that their helmet would pass the test with minimal safety, without making the rest of the helmet safe enough. This is a thing of the past, as now 6 standard points plus 3 or more random points are chosen per helmet to be tested. This way, it will be ensured that manufacturers will deliver helmets that are completely safe. If a helmet cracks during the impact test, it will have to go through the stiffness test again to check whether the helmet will still provide protection and no deformation has been measured.

Enhanced Impact Tests

The temperatures at which the impact tests are conducted have been adjusted. The minimum temperature has increased from -20° to -10°. Additional speeds have also been introduced. Where the impact used to always be tested at a speed of 7.5 m/s, a high speed test of 8.2 m/s and a low speed test of 6.0 m/s have been added. These additional tests are there to determine whether the helmet can disperse enough energy at both high and low speeds. For all tests, these are the limit values that should not be exceeded:

– Low-speed linear impact test: 180g and 1300 HIC

– Linear impact test at standard speed: 275g and 2400 HIC

– High-speed linear impact test: 275g and 2880 HIC

The additional tests are very important. You can make a helmet sturdy enough to withstand the high-speed test, but there’s a risk that the helmet may be too sturdy to also absorb the energy of the low-speed test. If the outer shell is too hard and not flexible enough, no energy will be dispersed in an accident at lower speeds and only the EPS or polystyrene inner shell can distribute the energy. It is the cooperation of the outer shell and inner shell that makes a helmet safe enough for all situations. This makes the low-speed test all the more important. Not every motorcycle accident occurs at high speed and not every rider is a speed demon.

Rotational Tests

The best addition to the inspection are the rotational crash tests. The helmet is launched at a speed of 8.0 m/s against a rough inclined surface. This is be done at various angles. This test best simulates how the helmet comes in contact with the road. In these tests, the direction of the helmet will go from vertical to horizontal after the impact. The smoother this transition goes, the less rotational force there will be. This is expressed in rad/s². A radian per second squared is a unit of angular acceleration. The limit value for this test is set at 10400 rad/s².

Rotational impact causes severe head and brain injury. As a result, helmets have become more round and contain fewer protruding shapes or angles. A round object is better suited to absorb the energy of the direction change. The liner or lining of the helmet may also evolve as a result of this to better absorb these forces. Certain helmet manufacturers are very pleased with the introduction of this new test. It has been said for years that a nice round helmet is the safest helmet. This test proves the statement.

Visor Testing

Over the past 20 years, there have been many developments in motorcycle helmets. For example, an integrated sun visor is no longer an exception in a motorcycle helmet. At the request of helmet manufacturers for more clarity about possible materials with which they can and are allowed to make visors, there are now also impact tests for visors. The standard visor must withstand a robust impact test. A steel ball will be shot at the visor at 216 km/h. The visor should not shatter, break, detach or deform. The sun visor is tested separately as of ECE 22.06. This is where the impact test of ECE 22.05 fell short.

Visors that let through ≥ 80% of light receive the ECE label for use both during the day and at night. The minimum light transmittance for tinted visors drops from 50% to 35%. A visor with a light transmittance between 80%-35% gets the label “Daytime Use Only”. It will therefore become possible to use a darker tinted visor during the day. A clear label will be used to indicate whether a visor is only suitable for daytime use (daytime use only). As you may already know, it is not safe to drive at night with a tinted visor. You can read more about this topic in our “tinted visors” blog.

The visor of your helmet will now also be tested with the anti-fog lens, unless the visor has an anti-fog function. Testing will be done on the anti-fog performance and the optical correctness of the visor, divided into class 1, 2 or 3. This is the degree of image distortion caused by the visor. Optical class 1 means that the image barely distorts.

Additional new tests

If the motorcycle helmet is prepared for a built-in intercom system or certain accessories, then the helmet must be tested with these extras. This is to ensure that no weak points arise. This test does not apply to helmets where a universal intercom can be installed.

For modular helmets, the test will also be conducted in both open and closed positions for the first time. Previously, this was only done in the closed position. Helmets equipped with a mask or interchangeable chin piece will also be tested ‘separately’ to see if the individual pieces provide sufficient protection upon impact.

What happens to 22.05 approved helmets after 2024?

Since January 2021, it was already possible to bring helmets with the new 22.06 certification to market. Since July 2022, it was mandatory for all new helmets to have 22.06 certification before they entered the market. Since July 2023, no new helmets that still fall under the 22.05 certification were allowed be produced. But don’t fret, helmets with ECE 22.05 certification will still be allowed to be worn.

The Importance of ECE Approved Helmets

The motorcycle helmet is the most important part of our gear. Multiple studies have shown that wearing a motorcycle helmet during an accident reduces the chance of death by 42%. Even if you survive the accident, there is still a chance that you could sustain brain damage. This risk decreases by 69% by wearing a proper motorcycle helmet. This happens to be the biggest risk. Broken bones and abrasions can heal, but brain damage is permanent. We do not wish an accident upon anyone! But what we can do at RAD, is to provide you with sufficient information to assist you in purchasing a safe motorcycle helmet.

Related links:

• Our range of helmets
• Economic Commission for Europe
• VIAS institute