Section 04
Twenty-four times, and the paperwork that follows it
NHTSA fatality rates, ABS mandate history, ECE 22.06 certification, Euro 5+ effects, and the Texas helmet-law partial repeal.
24 Times: What NHTSA's Exposure Data Shows
NHTSA's finding that motorcyclists die at approximately 24 times the per-mile rate of car occupants — the Traffic Safety Facts report it comes from, the exposure methodology behind the ratio, and how that figure has moved across the most recently published years.
ABS: Mandatory in Brussels, Petitioned in Washington
The EU's phased ABS mandate for motorcycles above 125cc — in force since 2016 — against the NHTSA petition history in the United States, where a formal rulemaking request has been filed and not resolved. The divergence in regulatory outcome from the same body of effectiveness evidence.
What Changed Between 22.05 and 22.06
The ECE 22.06 helmet certification standard — what it tests differently from its predecessor ECE 22.05, the oblique-impact test addition, the timeline for the transition, and which markets have adopted it as a legal minimum. Drawn from UNECE published regulation text.
Euro 5+ and the Models It Removed
The Euro 5+ emissions standard's effect on manufacturer line-ups — which models were discontinued, which were re-engineered, and what the standard's stricter OBD requirements cost at the product-planning level. Documented through manufacturer announcements and EU regulation text.
Texas's Partial Repeal and the Data That Followed
Texas's 1997 partial repeal of its universal helmet law — the legislative terms, the age and insurance-exemption structure — and what TxDOT's subsequent crash data recorded in the years after the change. The state as a documented case study in partial-repeal outcomes.
Level 1, Level 2, and What the Test Measures
The CE EN 13634 and EN 1621 armour certification levels for motorcycle jackets and back protectors — the impact-transmission thresholds that separate Level 1 from Level 2, the test methodology, and why the distinction appears in EU type-approval but not in US federal standards.
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