Safety On The Road – Motorcycle Helmet Visors

All over the globe, safety regulations are in place toyour vision is not obscured in any way. It is breaking
protect drivers and pedestrians. In a society, wherethe law in the U.K, if you either use a 50% onwards
vehicle accidents are rife, it is very important totinted visor or use a tinted visor whilst it is still dark.
protect oneself and others. Since the motorcycle isTinted visors are only ever meant for daytime use
considered one of the most hazardous vehicles,to protect the driver from glare, but if used during
mainly for the driver, as there is no protective cloakthe evening or night, your vision might be obscured,
of metal; there are a number of laws in place toin turn causing a fatal accident.
protect the individual. The laws cover equipment forVisors are there, however, not only to aid vision in
a motorcyclist. They must be up to a certainbright sunlight but to protect the motorcyclist from
standard; otherwise it is illegal to wear them. One ofoutside harm, such as dust in the wind. There a few
the items of equipment is the visor – avariations of visors available on the market, including
protective surface attached to the helmet thatthe clear visor, the coloured, tinted, smoked, iridium
protects motorcyclist eyes against bright sunlight andand coloured. All but the clear visor aim to filter
glare.sunlight, so that in bright sunny conditions you are
 not blinded when driving along. Each visor that aims
In the U.K laws state any visor used must beto filter sunlight has different properties; hence, one
approved. To prove that it is up to British standards,might filter light better than another one. It's always
it will have either a BS4110 or an EC regulation 22best to check to what extent they filter light, so
type 5 mark. The latter, a mark that shows that it isthat you can decide what the most suitable visor is
a legally safe helmet, is one of the only helmetsfor you. Remember to take into account local
legally accepted in the U.K.weather conditions and seasonal change and how this
Most of Europe follows the same guidelines ofmight affect your sight when on a motorcycle.
standards as Britain, but laws still may defer. TheIt is recommended that in winter, when it is less likely
USA does not have as strict standards as the U.K onto be sunny, to use a clear visor with anti-fog and
helmet regulations; however, there are variationsanti-scratch properties. An excellent idea may be to
from state to state on what is acceptable.buy two visors, one clear and one that filters light
In the U.K, a visor is allowed to be tinted, but itand carry them around with you whenever you are
should only ever be 50% tinted at most, so thaton your motorcycle just to be safe.