Helmet changes

[Guest kangomik]

I am told there maybe a change in SA regarding crash helmets, but i cannot find it in writing:arghh:.

 

Helmets had to have the Aussie Standard sticker on them which is silver. I am told your now allowed helemts from other countrys as long as they are stickered from a recognised institute. Making Gold ACU stickered helmets from the UK Legal here.

Resulting in no points and happy Pommes bringing over their extremely expensive but wonderfull lids and being able to uses them:notworthy:

 

Has anyone seen anything on the web regarding this?

 

Cheers

[Pesty650]

That would be good - its about time!

[Guest thekings]

I have heard rumours some that say helmets have to be aussie approved but I read in this link that they can be british approved. Have also been told that the gold ACU sticker on all british helmets is not in fact an approved sticker for anywhere, it is for racing purposes only in the uk, they used to be perforated into 4 sections where a marshall would tear off 1 section per season raced, at the end of 4 seasons you needed to get a new helmet. This is only what I heard though. Try this link and see what you can find out.

 

http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/pdfs/registration/handbook04_2007/drivers_handbook_combined_feb_2007.pdf

 

Takes a while to download but this is on page 77:

 

"An

‘approved’ helmet is a helmet

manufactured, tested and marked

in accordance with the

requirements of the Standards

Association of Australia or the

British Standards Institution, or

manufactured by Arai Hirotake

Limited and marked with the

appropriate model number as

contained in regulation 38 of the

Road Traffic (Miscellaneous)

Regulations 1999."

not sure if this is the latest version but was posted on another site in July this year.

 

(Edited) Found this newer one http://www.transport.sa.gov.au/pdfs/licence_certification/riders_handbook_full.pdf

 

Page 51 says Australian approved only.

 

Lucky for me my helmet of choice is as cheap as chips in Aus and has a better safety rating than certain other more expensive brands

[Guest kangomik]

the Giold ACU helmets meet british standards, the law changed there to european standards and some of the stuff was shockingly poor.

 

Fingers crossed this is the change,

[Guest knsc]

Hi

This is from the South Australian Consolidated Regulations

ROAD TRAFFIC (MISCELLANEOUS) REGULATIONS 1999 - REG 38

38—Safety helmets

 

(1) Helmets are approved for motor bike riders if—

 

(a) manufactured, tested and marked in accordance with the requirements of the Standards Association of Australia contained in—

 

(i) Australian Standard E33/1959— Protective Helmets for Motor Cyclists ; or

 

(ii) Australian Standard E33/1968— Protective Helmets for Motor Cyclists ; or

 

(iii) Australian Standard E43/1968— Protective Helmets for Racing Motor Cyclists ; or

 

(iv) Australian Standard 1698/1974— Protective Helmets for Vehicle Users ; or

 

(v) Australian Standard 1698/1988— Protective Helmets for Vehicle Users ; or

 

(vi) Australian/New Zealand Standard 1698:1992— Protective Helmets for Vehicle Users ; or

 

(vii) Australian/New Zealand Standard 1698:2006— Protective Helmets for Vehicle Users ,

 

and, if manufactured on or after 1 January 1972, bearing the certification mark of the Standards Association of Australia; or

 

(b) manufactured, tested and marked in accordance with the requirements of the British Standards Institution contained in—

 

(i) British Standard 2001/1972— Protective Helmets for Motor Cyclists ; or

 

(ii) British Standard 1869/1960— Protective Helmets for Racing Motor Cyclists ; or

 

(iii) British Standard 2495/1960— Protective Helmets and Peaks for Racing Car Drivers ; or

 

(iv) British Standard 6658:1985— Specification for Protective Helmets for Vehicle Users ,

 

and bearing the certification mark of the British Standards Institution; or

 

© manufactured by Arai Hirotake Limited and marked as model SP-21, SP-22, TX-7, X-7, S-70, R-6m, or XR.

 

(2) A person must not sell, or offer for sale, a helmet for use by a motor bike rider or passenger on a motor bike unless—

 

(a) the helmet, if manufactured before 1 January 1976, complies with 1 or more of the standards contained in subregulation (1); and

 

(b) the helmet, if manufactured on or after 1 January 1976, complies with—

 

(i) Australian Standard 1698/1974— Protective Helmets for Vehicle Users ; or

 

(ii) Australian Standard 1698/1988— Protective Helmets for Vehicle Users ; or

 

(iii) Australian/New Zealand Standard 1698:1992— Protective Helmets for Vehicle Users ; or

 

(iv) Australian/New Zealand Standard 1698:2006— Protective Helmets for Vehicle Users .

 

(3) Helmets are approved for bicycle riders if they meet the impact attenuation requirement of Australian Standard 2063.

 

(4) For the purposes of section 162C of the Act (Safety helmets and riders of wheeled recreational devices and wheeled toys), safety helmets must meet the impact attenuation requirement of Australian Standard 2063.

 

(5) A person must not sell, or offer for sale, a helmet for use by a bicycle rider or a rider of a wheeled recreational device or wheeled toy unless the helmet meets the impact attenuation requirement of Australian Standard 2063.

 

(6) Despite the other provisions of this regulation and the Australian Road Rules , a helmet approved for bicycle riders may be used by a passenger on a motor bike who is under 6 years old and may be sold, or offered for sale, for such use.

 

These are the rules as of 19th October 2009 as far as I can tell and they only apply to SA if you leave the state then different rules apply and any non Australian/New Zealand Standard 1698:2006 helmet may be illegal to use.

The ACU Gold Sticker was only for off road use and does not make a helmet road legal. You still had to have the British Standards sticker on a helmet to make it road legal as the ACU is not a Government body.

If you want the complete ROAD TRAFFIC (MISCELLANEOUS) REGULATIONS 1999 then send me a PM with you email and I will send it to you

Hope this answers your question.

 

Nigel.

[Pesty650]

Thanks for the info.

 

Looks like I'll be buying a new helmet in Oz then. I have an Arai Chaser which is to ECE22-05 & ACU Gold but doesn't look like this meets the standards which are too old to recognise the ECE22-05 standard (which I think superceeded the old BS6658 standard and is used across Europe). Oh well

[Guest knsc]

Thanks for the info.

 

Looks like I'll be buying a new helmet in Oz then. I have an Arai Chaser which is to ECE22-05 & ACU Gold but doesn't look like this meets the standards which are too old to recognise the ECE22-05 standard (which I think superceeded the old BS6658 standard and is used across Europe). Oh well

 

If you look at the UK regulations it looks like The BS6658:1985 is still the standard and the ECE22-05 is an equal standard that is ok to use ,which may be why the SA regulations still list it or maybe someone needs to point this out to them and get the regulations amended if it has not already been done (I could not find it). I also see there is a new regulations coming into force in UK and EU next year ECE2010 which will replace ECE22-05

I also saw you can buy ACU gold stickers on E-bay

[Guest Dave & Carole]

Popped into Yamaha World earlier this week, and asked about the above rumour. They certainly hadn't heard anything. They also pointed out that they had had an presentation by Arai two weeks ago, stating that the impact testing in Aus requires 3 impacts and UK only require one. So tests are different then. Will be watching this closely as I have a couple of good UK helmets.

Also, I have an Aus mate in Melbourne, and he uses a UK helmet for the road and uses it for track days at Phillip Island. Never any problems. I guess, if you have a good make helmet, the cops aren't going to look twice at it. Only an issue if you have an accident....

[Guest kangomik]

Looks like the wife and kids helmets are covered by BS and EU, and my Moto X helmet covered. But there are no markings on my OGK FF4 helmet, looks like more investigating.

 

Nigel thanks for all that info fella, stack loads of good stuff

 

My mistake about the gold ACU, we were always told if it had gold then it would probably be covered by BS. Simpson Bandit excluded.

 

Cheers

[Pesty650]

Whatever the standard - BS, EC, AU, etc, none of them take into account the age or condition of the helmet. Manufacturers advise a 5 year life for a helmet, as beyond this it can start to lose its strength and may not meet the impact tests any more. Probably depends how much you use it & in what conditions, but as I read the regs, I could take a 12 year old used every day helmet to Oz as long as it is marked with BS6658 and it would be legal, but my 18 month old Arai would not. Absolutely crazy! I know which I would rather wear!! You only get 1 head.

 

But the rules are the rules, so I will buy a new one in Adelaide. I'm not risking a fine & demerit points for the sake of buying a new lid. Hopefully I'll get a deal when I buy a bike....

[Guest kangomik]

Pesty you raise a good point there mate, my wife and kids helmets are rarely worn, yet mine used to be worn every day and is probably the newest of the lot, though hasn't been worn in the last 18 months!

 

My MX helmet is 19 months old and has probably been worn 20 tmes, with Zero impact.

 

In the racing arena theres an old saying, how much do you value your head...... the rest goes from there...... i always had a smart answer for it, but thats nothing to do with this thread.

[Guest thekings]

But the rules are the rules, so I will buy a new one in Adelaide. I'm not risking a fine & demerit points for the sake of buying a new lid. Hopefully I'll get a deal when I buy a bike....

 

Most guys in England would kill for an excuse like this to persuade their missus to let them get a new lid :biglaugh:

 

As you say maybe its not worth the risk for demerit points!