DRSC News
Meeting of global road safety experts focused on motorised two-wheelers and safe helmets.
On 21 May, DRSC Board Member, Ferry Smith, attended the High Level Panel for Road Safety in Geneva, themed “Helmets as a Vaccine.” The meeting was hosted by the UN Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, and brought together global road safety experts focused on motorised two-wheelers and how we can make quality helmets accessible and affordable for all users.
Motorised two-wheelers are a vital part of the mobility system across much of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Yet riders and passengers in these regions face a disproportionate risk of serious injury and death, in large part because the helmets available to them frequently fail to meet basic quality standards and offer little meaningful protection in a crash.
Affordability is a core part of the problem. For many riders, cost is the deciding factor, and the helmets within their financial reach are often substandard. Addressing this requires not just better products, but a coordinated effort across the entire supply chain and policy environment.
A key outcome highlighted at the Geneva meeting was the successful development of helmets carrying the ECE 22.06 certification (the internationally recognised quality benchmark) at a price point that makes them viable for markets across the Global South. This breakthrough, driven by the efforts of the UN Special Envoy for Road Safety, was welcomed by participants as an important step forward.
Presentations from Honda, UNECE, the Total Energies Foundation, Autoliv and the Global Alliance for Road Safety made clear, however, that getting quality helmets into riders’ hands also requires coordinated action across production, regulation, taxation and education.
Ferry, who serves as a member of the advisory group of the UN Special Envoy for Road Safety, represented DRSC at the gathering and presented a draft guide on correctly fitting and wearing a crash helmet, a seemingly simple but critical issue, as an ill-fitting helmet can significantly undermine protection. Developing clear, accessible guidance for riders is therefore an essential complement to the work on helmet quality and availability.
The guide will be developed further in the coming months in collaboration with the office of the Special Envoy. DRSC will also be hosting a dedicated webinar on motorised two-wheelers on 29 October 2026 bringing together expertise and experience to explore what it takes to make the roll-out of safe, affordable helmets a real-world success.
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