SHARP releases initial helmet safety ratings

Recognizing the need for an independent motorcycle helmet safety assessment resource for consumers, the UK Government has launched SHARP, The Safety Helmet and Assessment Rating Program. By evaluating a helmet's ability to reduce severe shock to a rider's brain beyond minimum regulatory practice, the agency offers motorcyclists the ability to make informed purchases. It's about time. The helmet industry is in dire need of both transparent and independent evaluation beyond the laughably basic minimum legal standards.
Think of what SHARP does as being equivalent to the tests carried out on and subsequent safety ratings given to cars. Those ratings (the best resource is Euro NCAP) allow consumers to make purchasing decisions based on safety and subsequently encourage manufacturers to make safer vehicles. Now we can do the same with helmets.

The SHARP tests evaluate impact absorption at multiple locations, rotational acceleration and conducts test at speeds both higher and lower than the current legal standards test at all while evaluating helmets for heads of different weights and sizes. By offering riders the ability to make informed helmet choices, SHARP believes it can save 50 lives every year in the UK alone. We think that with additional funding for more extensive testing and greater promotion, it could save many more lives across the globe.

Follow the link below to see ratings and all the helmets they’ve evaluated so far.

SHARP