Sunglasses/visor rules

[nealski]

Hi all,

I have just been watching bike cops uk on "men and motors" and they were showing a copper riding with his visor up, but sunglasses on - is this illegal? Does this show that even cops are human! lol.

I do get confused with these visor rules. I remember reading a good guide in "RiDE" magazine about a year ago, but forgot all.

Cheers,
Neal
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Nealski
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[John]

I think it's legal to wear whatever you want as long as the actual visor is X amount transparant. AFAIK it's even legal to have a dark strip on the visor as long as it's your side, or something?

Someone else will explain it better i'm sure.
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[carvell]

What could be illegal about sunglasses?

In the summer I always wear sunglasses when going exploring round country lanes etc. That way you can keep the visor up and not have the bother of the wind in your eyes, plus the obvious benefits of sunglasses.
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[Mr C]

well I'm not really sure but I think if you have no visor then the sunglasses have to be kitemarked with the same stupid BS number a visor does

however dark or light a visor is it has to be marked


it's all bollocks, I just use a black one and carry a clear if I may be out til dusk
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[Phil.]

I'd be interested to know if anyone has had a dark visor confiscated.

Sure we have all read the stories about riders having to ride home without one after the police have taken them. As if thats any safer.

[DukeRed]

what about the helmets with the dark visor flip down thats is illegaly dark? surely it must be legal if its on a helmet as standard

[Mattastic]

Just to let you know that the police CANNOT confiscate your dark visor from you. By law, the police can only take something away as evidence if they think they need it as evidence. For example, if you were going to deny wearing it they could take it. If you get stopped just sign something admitting you were wearing it and they can't take it.
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[Demonic69]

The visor is classed as protection, not the same as sunglasses or the flipdown bit on Lazer Rev's etc.
The reasone Dark visors are illegal over here is due to our unpredictable weather, one minute t's lovely and sunny, the next it's dark and wet. Sunglasses can easily be removed when the conditions change, as can the flip visor, but with a Dark visor it has to be opened to see, defeating the point of having a visor in the 1st place, which is to protect your eyes from shit off the road etc.
In theory, if you carry a clear visor, you should be fine with a dark one so long as you do change when the weather does. But I'm sure TC will tell us that all his mates would do all in their power to bust you anyways.

What is illegal though (And most MC Police are guilty of this crime) is wearing a modular helmet with the front up.
Like some of the chappies in this pic:
https://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1305000/images/_1306262_motorbike.300.jpg

Modular helmets are tested and classified as full-face lids. Riding with the front up changes the specification of the helmet to an open face one with the wrong CE mark.
So if there are any police out there who actually know the law, instead of a select few laws that gain the most revenue or are easy busts, then it's the same penalty for riding with a modualr open, than it is to ride witha dark visor, which is Technically riding without a legal helmet.
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[G]

I believe the laws ignores anything inside the visor; it's only the external visor that the law applies to.

So you could wear 99% tint sunglasses that are very difficult to get off in the middle of the night in a tunnel, but with a clear visor; okay they might try and do you for something else relating to being a twat, but not the law about tinted visors.

[mr.z]

[carvell]

[Demonic69]

That was just to prove a point. I'm quite sure we've all seen them riding with the fron up
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[Kickstart]

Hi

As I understand it anything that is eye protection needs to has the appropriate BS stamp, and with the visor up technically glasses / shades become eye protection.

Many of the combination helmets are homologated as open face helmets.

All the best

Keith
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[T.C]

It all gets a bit technical so I will try and keep it simple.

All visors have to comply with BS4110 XA, YA or ZA and the maximum permitted tint by law is 50% unless they are motorcross goggles in which case an 82% tint is allowed.

Although illegal, I have yet to come across a copper who will report you for it if the visor is being used sensibly, i,e in bright weather. Where they will get arsy is when people ride with them on when it is dark or in conditions of poor visibility such as heavy rain. If you carry your clear visor with you then the chances of being reported are reduced even further, and to be honest most motorcycle cops who have their own bikes wear black visors themselves.

The Police are allowed to confiscate your visor as evidence, however this is changing as a few Police forces have been threatened with a civil personal injury action should the rider sustain an injury on the remainder of his/her journey (if this has happened to anyone within the last 3 years, please let me know as I am dying to sue a force for this).

If the helmet comes with a built in black visor and conforms to EC22/05 or the new standard about to be introduced 22/06 then fine not a problem as it has been approved with that visor in place, it really only affects aftermarket or replacement visors.

As far as wearing sunglasses is concerned, then no offence and there are no regulations regarding the quality of sunglasses. The biggest problem with these is that if you have (and I apologise to spectacle wearers) a helmet that fits properly not only is it difficult to get them on as it is often so tight between the liner and your head, pressure points also often cause raging headaches after a short while which in turn will affect concentration.

If i get the chance next week (and I can find out how to do it) I will post a few photographs up of riders who were wearing sunglasses in an accident. In one the arm of his glasses went straight up his nasal cavity into his skull and into his brain and he ended up brain damaged for life, another lost both his eyes and in another the rider ended up with severe bleeding from behind the eye where the arms of both his glasses went between his eyeball and his eyelid and got wedged

Every years I must see at least 200 cases where sunglasses cause big problems, although in fairness not that many with prescription glasses, although it does happen.

This is one of the reasons I am still fighting for the visor legislation to be overturned but we may have to wait for a change in either Government of transport minister!
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