SHARP (the Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme) is a

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

quality ratings scheme for

motorcycle helmet A motorcycle helmet is a type of helmet used by motorcycle riders. Motorcycle helmets contribute to motorcycle safety by protecting the rider's head in the event of an impact. They reduce the risk of head injury by 69% and the risk of death by 4 ...

s, established in 2007, with the objective of improving motorcycle safety on UK roads. Helmets which are selected for testing by SHARP are purchased from consumer retailers. This ensures that the helmets tested by SHARP are exactly the same as what UK motorcyclists can buy. The helmets are tested, seven for each model, using 32 tests, which aim to measure the protection they offer the

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

in impacts at a variety of speeds, and against both flat surfaces and kerbs. It rates the helmet models from one to five stars - with five being the highest, and states that a five star rated helmet "offers good levels of protection right around the helmet." Nigel Mills of the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

criticised the SHARP scheme in a paper in 2009, examining its testing of rotational acceleration, despite SHARP using the test procedures specified in

British Standards British Standards (BS) are the standards produced by the BSI Group which is incorporated under a royal charter and which is formally designated as the national standards body (NSB) for the UK. The BSI Group produces British Standards under th ...

BS 6658, and also the United Nations

World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations is a working party (WP.29) of the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Its responsibility is to manage the multilateral Agreements ...

ECE Regulation 22. The UK's

Transport Research Laboratory TRL Limited, trading as TRL (formerly Transport Research Laboratory) is an independent private company offering a transport consultancy and research service to the public and private sector. Originally established in 1933 by the UK Government ...

(TRL) delivered a detailed response addressing the Nigel Mills paper in November 2009. SHARP stress that irrespective of their own ratings, all helmets sold in the UK have been certified to comply with the relevant legal standard, namely ECE R22. However, it also points out that there is a 70% difference in protection between a SHARP one star rating compared to their five star rating. SHARP has been given two prestigious road safety awards; the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award (2013, Motorcycle category) in recognition of its outstanding contribution to improving road safety, and the

Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme The International Motorcycling Federation (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) or (FIM) is the global governing/sanctioning body of motorcycle racing. It represents 123 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six continent ...

(FIM) annual Road Safety Award recognising achievements in helping motorcyclists. Some retailers of motorcycle helmets – and many riders globally – use SHARP star ratings as a selection criterion.

Certimoov ratings in France

Mirroring SHARP, work in France began on a similar programme in 2014. The MAIF Foundation, in partnership with the University of Strasbourg, started a project that resulted in Certimoov. Certimoov testing recreates oblique impacts and integrates a new brain model to measure the effect of a collision on the

. The Certimoov test results classify helmets according to the level of safety – mirroring SHARP by using star rating from 0 to 5. Additionally, Certimoov tests

Bicycle helmets A bicycle helmet is a type of helmet designed to attenuate impacts to the head of a cycling, cyclist in collisions while minimizing side effects such as interference with peripheral vision. History History of designs A cycle helme ...

too.

References

External links

Official website
{{Motorcycles Motorcycle safety organizations Helmets Motorcycle safety gear 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom