Tinted Visor Legal Uk

I bought my used visor, which is good in my case. Remember that you should not buy a used helmet. This carries the risk of wearing a less protective helmet. An official police officer could dress you, inspect your visor, and if you notice the lack of a high-quality kitemark, track you down because you don`t have a kitemark. You really should have teased him or been caught driving “antisocial” – the only time I`ve heard of people getting ready in broad daylight for unmarked dragon eye protection were green laners mistaken for traversers by brass on a mission. Tinted visors in the UK are a bit of a grey area. Laws have been changed a few times and many drivers wear tinted visors when they are not allowed to. You will find few examples of police prosecuting drivers for mirrored or tinted visors, and in cases where they ask for a fine, it is often something other than the visor that first attracts the attention of the police. This assumes that mirrored visors are not legal – I have no idea. That is the officer`s interpretation at the moment. So my advice would be to use tinted visors only when it`s super sunny and there`s no way anyone could call the circumstances “poor visibility.” Shoei and Bell, among others, have distributed “photochromatic” or “reactolite” visors to manufacturers of visors and helmets that darken in direct sunlight. I think it`s a brilliant idea, but like traditional dark visors, it`s illegal for the visor to be tinted significantly in the sun. There are certain factors explaining the different application of the law to cars and bicycles, some practices, some cultural and some simply legal.

In my 26 years as a litigator, I have only seen black visors in court twice. In one of them, the two forensic experts (one for the motorcyclist, one for the motorist) accepted a dark, though illegal, visor in fact safer than a transparent visor in the beautiful English summer days of the accident. I think of tinted (and mirrored) visors like a noisy exhaust. Technically not legal, and you may get in trouble, but in reality, it will only be if they arrested you for something else. In general, tinted visors are well suited during the day. However, they are not allowed at night or in poor visibility conditions. This is where the grey area comes in, because “poor visibility” is not a black and white situation. Until 2014, locally supported Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidelines were that officers should ignore dark visors in direct sunlight, but stop and notify anyone driving with dark visors in dimming light. So I make the decision, based on my own interpretation of the risks, to drive in a transition visor for most of the year, or when driving in my vancore, I do it with clear glasses (even if they are not marked BS) and try my luck when I meet the most official road traffic officials in Britain. My AC visor darkens deeper than my shoei visor when the light dims, so the shoei visor is best for me, although both get very dark in direct sunlight. Since it`s perfectly legal and reasonable to drive with sunglasses that can be quickly removed in a car, it`s definitely a good idea to have a visor that can snap into a tunnel or go into a dark area, and when the light fades, the visor becomes clear. Anyone who has tried to fish sunglasses inside a hard hat while wearing gloves will undoubtedly confirm the faff.

The ACPO`s 2014 “Motorcycle Safety Strategy” is silent on the dark ones, so it boils down to the discretion of the constable. The only device approved to test the amount of light that passes through glass is the Tint Man`, which is calibrated for glass and nothing more than a flat surface. Each test must be performed by an officer trained in the use of a simple, portable device. The officer must then ask the CPS to prosecute you, and if the crown cannot prove that the Tint Man` is calibrated and authorized for curved polycarbonate as opposed to flat glass, the charge will collapse. Curvature is important because a curved and transparent visor blocks 10% to 20% of the available light without any tint. Mirrored visors protect the eyes by reflecting sunlight that could otherwise cause stress and damage. To keep a clear view of the road, you should clean your visor or glasses regularly. Specific cleaning instructions may be provided by the manufacturer with your device. If you don`t have this information handy, use warm soap and a soft cloth. Never use cleaning agents or abrasive solvents, as they can scratch or damage the visor or glasses. Here, however, it becomes cloudy.

In the UK, tinted visors are good in daylight, but illegal in “poor visibility/night” – somewhat open to interpretation. By law, you must wear a hard hat when riding a motorcycle on a highway. The only legal exception is for members of the Sikh religion who wear a turban. So the advantage for photochromic visors is that you don`t have to replace the visors, you can lift your visor for the few seconds it takes to change when you switch from light to dark, and they look cool in the sun or daylight in general. Rule number one to avoid police problems – don`t be Wally. If they stop you after dark for something stupid, they`re much more likely to notice your illegal visor than if you were driving under the speed limit with the lights on. This is seriously something to keep in mind. This is not a problem, if you have panniers, just take the original transparent visor with you.