Will This Change the Helmet Accessories Market?
I’ve heard before that the accessories you wear on your helmet can impact its safety. It makes sense. Helmet manufacturers spend a lot of time perfecting the shape of the shell only for many of us to toss on a Bluetooth comm unit and mess that up. The ECE must agree with this sentiment because it recently decided to add accessories testing to its list of tests, according to Motorbike Writer.
The new ECE 22.06 standards will take helmet accessories into account. The new safety rules will apply to 47 different countries. The new standard isn’t going to be fully enforced until 2023, but it will coexist with the current 22.05 standard that’s in place.
The new standards will add impact tests at different angles instead of just head-on as the standard used to call for. This will help the testing look at rotational force. These tests will also be done with and without helmet accessories. By performing the test both with and without the accessories, this will allow testers to get an idea for how accessories will impact the helmet.
What’s really interesting about this is that some accessories will void the ECE homologation. Only approved accessories will be accepted. This means certain comm units, visors, cameras, and other accessories could void the ECE certification.
It’s unclear how this will impact the helmet accessories market, but my thought is that we’ll see more integrated solutions like the ones that Sena sells. Helmet accessories manufacturers could start making their own helmets or we might start seeing more collaborations between helmet manufacturers and accessories manufacturers. We’ll also probably start seeing more low-profile helmet accessories.
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