Motorcyclists Urged to Wear Helmets That Meet the Required Standard

Motorcyclists are being encouraged to wear helmets that meet the required standard, and protective gears.

The call comes from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Jamaica National (JN) Foundation, as the country marks Road Safety Awareness Month in June.

Both entities are part of the National Helmet Wearing Coalition (NHWC), a multi‑sector partnership, which has advanced the establishment of national helmet standards for Jamaica.

Speaking at a JIS Think Tank on June 4, Motorcycle Fatalities Reduction Strategist for the JCF and the Community Engagement Lead for the NHWC, District Constable (DC) Marlon Fletcher, explained that there are some helmets that are branded certified, but in actuality they are not.

“The Department of Transport (DOT) is the US certification. Then we have ECE (Economic Commission of Europe), which is the European certification. We have Snell, which is a private certification. Let’s use DOT as an example. A helmet saying DOT alone is not an indication of certification,” DC Fletcher noted.

He disclosed that in addition to the sign of the DOT certification, the helmet should also have the batch number and other identifying indicators to confirm its safety and viability.

“It has the year of manufacture. It has the batch number. It has several numbers below it. That’s the first thing you can see. If you find a helmet that has DOT alone, chances are it’s not certified. Because once they [DOT] have certified them, they would have the year of certification, the batch number and the serial number for certification,” he said.

If the motorcyclist still has doubts, then they can proceed to pull the helmet apart.

“You can take the helmet apart, the sponge in the helmet is not for protection. It’s for comfort. Below that sponge, there is what we commonly call in Jamaica a foam. Now, you can simply do the $20 coin test. If you put a $20 coin beside the foam and it’s thinner than that, chances are it is not certified. That’s the impact protection for the helmet,” DC Fletcher said.

He also added that certified helmets must come with a metal buckle chin strap and not a plastic buckle, further reminding drivers that despite the perception, helmets have expiration dates and that should also be checked before purchasing one.

For her part, General Manager of JN Foundation, Claudine Allen, detailed the importance of the partnership with the JCF to educate the public about wearing a certified helmet.

“The NHWC, we are creating an environment where every motorcycle driver in Jamaica knows the difference between any old helmet and a safe helmet, and has access to a helmet that is certified and standardised that will actually protect his life as well as the lives of the pillion passengers who are riding on that motorcycle,” she said.