SHARP – The Helmet Safety Scheme has won two prestigious road safety awards – the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award and the 2013 FIM (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) Road Safety Award.
The SHARP testing programme was developed by the Department For Transport (DfT) in Great Britain and provides motorcyclists with two strands of information to help them choose a helmet.
The first is to inform riders of the importance of a correctly fitting helmet. Information on the web shows a rider how to select a helmet that fits correctly.
The second is to provide objective advice concerning the level of protection that a particular helmet may provide in an impact by using an easy to understand “star rating” system; adopted because of its success in the safety rating of cars.
Objective testing proves that consumers need not spend a lot of money in order to buy good levels of safety.
Transport Minister Robert Goodwill said in response to the honours:
“We estimate that 50 deaths could be prevented each year if all riders wore the safest helemts available. That is why I am delighted that SHARP is being recognised for its work of offering objective advice to motorcyclists over the past six years.
“I hope these awards will help to highlight the valuable work SHARP does by making sure that motorcyclists have access to the best safety information so that we can improve safety for motorcyclists and reduce the number of tragedies we see on the roads each year.”
Tony Spalding, chairman of the Prince Michael judging panel, said: “When recommending the award to His Royal Highness, the judges highlighted the importance of independent assessment of the effectiveness of safety critical products and the need to make this knowledge available to bikers. SHARP does all this and has been a real success.”
SHARP was presented with the Prince Michael award in recognition of its outstanding contribution to imrpoving road safety at this year’s Motorcycle Live Show at Birmingham’s NEC.
The FIM (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) annual Road Safety Award will follow, recognising its achievements in helping motorcyclists.
SHARP – The Helmet Safety Scheme
Original Sources – FIM – Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme – Road Safety GB
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