Safety Guide
Safety Guide
This guide collects general, sourced information about rider safety and protective gear ratings. It is general information, not evidence about Denimotto products. For what Denimotto publishes about its own products, see Testing & Certification Information.
Start With The Helmet
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that helmets are 37% effective in preventing fatal injuries to motorcycle riders and 41% for passengers. In the US, look for a helmet that meets Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 (the DOT symbol). In the UK, the Highway Code requires riders and passengers to wear a protective helmet.
Why Gear Matters
NHTSA reports that 6,228 motorcyclists were killed on US roads in 2024, 16% of all traffic deaths, and that per mile travelled, motorcyclists were almost 27 times more likely than car occupants to die in a crash. NHTSA advises riders to cover their arms and legs, wear boots and gloves, and use bright or reflective clothing to be seen.
What Riding-Safety Organisations Recommend
- Helmet: the most important item (Motorcycle Safety Foundation).
- Eye and face protection: a face shield or eye protection.
- Jacket and trousers designed for motorcycling, with abrasion-resistant material in the areas most likely to contact the road and impact protectors over the joints (MSF; NSW Government).
- Full-finger gloves and sturdy boots that cover the ankle.
- Bright or reflective clothing: fluorescent by day, reflective at night (UK Highway Code rules 86–87).
- Fit: gear should fit so that it stays in place, and protectors stay over the joints, in a fall (NSW Government).
How Protective Garments Are Rated
EN 17092: Motorcycle Garments (Europe)
EN 17092 is the European standard series for motorcycle protective garments. It replaced EN 13595 in 2020. It defines five classes for finished garments:
- AAA, AA and A: garments with abrasion, tear and seam requirements plus impact protectors. For AAA and AA, shoulder, elbow, hip and knee protectors are required; for A, shoulder, elbow and knee protectors are required.
- B: abrasion protection equivalent to Class A, without impact protectors.
- C: a garment designed to hold impact protectors, with no minimum abrasion protection (for example an armoured base layer).
Abrasion is tested on an impact-abrasion machine: material samples are dropped onto concrete at a set speed and must not wear through. The class belongs to the finished garment model (its zones, seams, materials and protector coverage together), not to a fabric on its own. A garment classified in Europe carries the CE marking and a label showing the standard and class.
EN 1621: Impact Protectors
Removable protectors (“armour”) are certified separately from garments. EN 1621-1 covers limb protectors (shoulder, elbow, hip, knee); EN 1621-2 covers back protectors. Both have two performance levels based on how much force passes through the protector in a standard impact test. For limb protectors, Level 1 allows an average transmitted force below 35 kN and Level 2 below 20 kN. For back protectors, the limits are 18 kN (Level 1) and 9 kN (Level 2). A certified protector does not make the garment around it certified.
Rules Differ By Market
- European Union: motorcycle garments marketed as protective are personal protective equipment under Regulation (EU) 2016/425 and must be type-examined by a notified body, CE marked, and supplied with a declaration of conformity and instructions.
- Great Britain: the same regulation applies as retained law; CE or UKCA marking is accepted.
- United States: there is no federal standard or certification for motorcycle jackets or pants. FMVSS 218 covers helmets only.
Independent Ratings
MotoCAP is a government-backed programme in Australia and New Zealand that buys gear anonymously at retail, tests it, and publishes protection and breathability star ratings.
Looking After Gear
- Follow the care label sewn into the garment and the protector manufacturer's instructions.
- Protector manufacturers generally recommend replacing a protector after a hard impact, even if it looks undamaged.
- Inspect garments for tears, worn areas and failed seams, and repair or replace them.
About Denimotto Garments
We don’t publish test reports, certificates or protection classes for our garments or inserts. Our riding jeans and jackets have pockets for removable inserts, and a standard insert set is included. Our vests have no protector pockets.
Sources
- NHTSA, Motorcycle Safety: nhtsa.gov/road-safety/motorcycle-safety
- NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycles 2023 Data (DOT HS 813 732) and helmet effectiveness research note (DOT HS 813 270), crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov
- Motorcycle Safety Foundation, Personal Protective Gear: msf-usa.org
- UK Highway Code, rules 83–88: gov.uk
- NSW Government, Motorcyclist riding gear: nsw.gov.au
- SATRA Technology, EN 17092 and EN 1621 overviews: satra.com
- Regulation (EU) 2016/425, eur-lex.europa.eu; UK Office for Product Safety and Standards guidance, gov.uk
- MotoCAP: motocap.com.au