Sara Everingham reported this story on Saturday, May 18, 2013 08:07:00

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has recalled more than 1,000 motorcycle helmets because it's found the helmets are potentially unsafe.



The ACCC is urging anyone who's bought one of the helmets to return it and in the meantime use a different one.



Sara Everingham reports.



SARA EVERINGHAM: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has been reviewing the mandatory standards for motorcycle helmets.



The ACCC's Delia Rickard says six different helmets all costing $180 or less were tested and some did not meet the national standards.



DELIA RICKARD: Four of the helmets passed but two helmets were found to have problems and have no2 been recalled.



The helmets that have been recalled are Kylin XR-205 open face, skull cap style helmets, all sizes, and the KBC VR-1X full face helmet.



Both of those were found to have faults that could be very dangerous to riders.



SARA EVERINGHAM: And how could they be dangerous to riders?



DELIA RICKARD: When you test these things, you do all sorts of different tests, and certainly there's a test called the penetration test that tests the top of the helmet and that was found to be weak.



And obviously, these are designed to protect your brain, and you don't want any weak spots on a bike helmet.



SARA EVERINGHAM: The neurosurgeon, Associate Professor Brian Owler, is from the New South Wales branch of the Australian Medical Association.



He's also the face of the New South Wales government's Road Safety Campaign.



He says helmets with the right interior protection can reduce the severity of brain injuries.



BRIAN OWLER: You can spend a lot of money on a helmet, but of course, the key thing is to get the quality and the safety features in the helmet.



And while any helmet's better than none, it really is a good investment in one's health and future if you can get a helmet that has all of the safety features and the proper safety rating such that it can absorb the forces and the impact that occur when you're riding a motorbike.



SARA EVERINGHAM: And what do you think the difference can be between a good helmet and one that doesn't have such high quality?



BRIAN OWLER: Well the difference is obviously life and death. And you know, unfortunately we see quite a number of people that die from motorbike accidents, and often it is a head injury that is the cause of death.



Of course, they also have spinal and other head injuries that can have devastating life-long consequences. And in fact we've been seeing an increase in the number of injuries, particularly with men in their middle age that haven't been riding a motorbike for some time, buying things like Harley Davidsons and high powered motorbikes and then taking it up as a sport, but unfortunately, a lot of those men in their middle ages are getting injured. And unfortunately one of the things that we're seeing is significant brain injury.



ELIZABETH JACKSON: Associate Professor Brian Owler ending that report from Sara Everingham.



The ACCC is urging anyone seeking more information about the helmet recall to visit their website.

