The helmet’s retention system should include a quick-release mechanism for effortless and rapid unfastening.
Africa’s first laboratory dedicated to testing the quality and safety of motorbike helmets, was launched in Rwanda on Wednesday, December 11.
Raymond Murenzi, the Director General of Rwanda Standards Board (RSB), said the facility can test 30 to 40 helmets per day, noting that RSB put in place safety requirements regarding the nature of helmets that should be used in the country, be it imported ones or those that will be locally manufactured.
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“After the regulations were put in place, we are now going to be able to examine their implementation by use of this laboratory,” he said.
According to RSB’s regulations, a safe helmet should be made in such a way that when it is worn by the rider or passenger, it is firmly held in place by “a retention system” which is secured under the lower jaw.
They should also be designed with a hard plastic or polymer composite shell, an expanded polystyrene energy absorbing liner and a soft comfort foam on the interior. In addition, the helmet’s retention system should include a quick-release mechanism, which is a type of fastening system that allows the helmet to be easily and quickly unfastened.
Innocent Nzeyimana, the president of Healthy People Rwanda (HPR), a non-governmental organisation that has been educating the public about road safety through social media, said the project of testing the helmets was born from the realisation that despite Rwanda’s 100 percent compliance to the use of helmets, there was still a high rate of head injuries when accidents road accidents occur.
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With this, he said, they wondered whether the helmets being used in the country were the right ones.
“The goal of this project is to pave the way for local manufacturing of helmets in Rwanda, leveraging the testing laboratory and the established standards to produce high-quality helmets domestically. This initiative will not only enhance access to affordable, certified helmets but also contribute to other safety initiatives, as well as contributing to economic growth,” he noted.
Sadi Bizumuremyi, a taxi-moto rider based in Kigali, praised the establishment of the laboratory, noting that riders must always be careful and protect themselves.
“One of the most important things a Rwandan can do, apart from taking a safety course before riding on the road, is to wear safety gear. A helmet is the most critical part of our equipment, but not just any helmet, a quality helmet certified to our country’s standard that can truly protect the head,” he said.
The UN’s latest regulations on motorcycle helmet tests, call for measures to make sure that visors (movable parts of a helmet that can be pulled down to cover the face) don’t shatter when hit by something hard during the ride.
To test this, the regulations point out that the helmet should be tested with a steel ball at 60 metres per second. The visor should not fracture or deform, and the visor housing should not separate into two or more pieces or no longer be capable of holding the visor in position.
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The regulations also stipulate an impact test method of measuring rotational acceleration, to test the impact on the brain when the helmet is twisted during an accident. To test this, the helmet is allowed to fall, under specified angles and with a specified speed onto a rigidly mounted anvil.
According to Rwanda National Police, between March and September, 890 road accidents caused by or involving motorcycles were registered. In the same period, police impounded over 1,100 motorcycles found in serious traffic offences.
