There are literally hundreds of crash helmets on the market, making it very difficult to decide which to buy. No matter how tight your budget is, you should always buy new.

A safety helmet is designed to absorb the impact by crushing or compressing - even a fall from a few feet can render it useless. Therefore a helmet can only work once. Modern helmets have tough outer skins typically made from either fibre glass or polycarbonate, which makes it very difficult to determine internal damage.

A shiny outer skin is no guarantee that the impact absorbing compacted-polystyrene lining is still effective. Therefore don't risk it.

The BSI Kitemark for motorcycle helmets and visors was extended in the year 2000 to include new European regulations.

The regulations, under the UK Road Traffic Act, state that new European regulations can now be used in addition to the current British Standards.

Until recently, the only helmets and visors that could be legally sold for use on the UK's roads had to be Kitemarked to show they met the requirements of BS 6658 and BS 4110.

Now, in addition to this approval, helmets and visors are also legal if approved to United Nations ECE Regulation 22, 05 Series of amendments (Reg 22.05). To avoid confusion, the Kitemark is now offered for all current approvals so motorcyclists can ensure they are protected with BSI.

Although 'E' marked, helmets and visors approved to the less stringent Reg 22.04 cannot legally be sold for use on the road in the UK, this is not the case in mainland Europe where the majority are currently only approved to Reg 22.04. The more stringent Reg 22.05 will be phased in over the next few years throughout most of mainland Europe.

The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), which is the UK approval authority for ECE Regulations, has accepted BSI, one of the world' s leading test laboratories for protective headwear, as its first technical service provider for the new European regulations.