§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether an abrasion test for eye protectors for motor cyclists is now available for (a) visors fitted to the helmet at point of sale and (b) replacement visors; and if it is his intention to make abrasion tests mandatory for all new motor cyclists' visors;
(2) in view of the public concern and evidence of the potential dangers of tinted visors for motor cyclists, if he will reconsider his proposals to allow the use of tinted visors during poor daytime visibility and adverse weather conditions;
(3) why the proposed minimum specification for the amount of light transmission for motor cyclists' tinted visors is less than 60 per cent. while that for car windscreens is 70 per cent. and is soon to be increased to 75 per cent.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe great majority of visors in use are sold separately from helmets and are at present not subject to any road safety regulations. Tinted visors are popular with motorcyclists as they alleviate the effect of glare in bright sunlight and, providing they are not too heavily tinted, they can be used safely in most daylight hours.
For these reasons the Department has proposed that the British standard on visors should be extended to cover tinted visors with a light transmission value of 50 per cent. This would pave the way for regulations leading to an overall improvement in the quality of visors. The different light transmission standard for car windscreens reflects the fact that cars have built in sun visors, drivers can more easily wear sunglasses, and motor cyclists can readily push their tinted visors out of the line of vision or change to a clear visor when daylight fades.
The British standard has recently been amended to include an optional abrasion test but because an approval scheme for this option has not yet been finalised, it is still not certain if it would be feasible to require by regulation that all visors, whenever sold, must be abrasion resistant to the standard's specification.