Around 70% of helmets being sold in Hanoi do not meet safety standards, said the Market Surveillance Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Light blows crack cheap helmets 

The agency, in conjunction with the Hanoi Market Surveillance Board carried out an inspection of shops and stores that sell helmets in the city on February 25, confiscating over 2,300 that were deemed to be substandard. 1,600 of these did not meet regulations.

The results of the inspection indicated that most shops did not have a business registration license or papers to prove their products' origins.

Helmets can be bought very cheaply, some for between VND30,000 and VND 60,000, while safer, authentic helmets cost much more. Many of the shop owners claimed that what they were selling was just for fashion, to be worn by pedestrians. Many of these types of helmets bare showy colours and well-known logos, such as Gucci, Vespa, Liberty, or even the names of football teams. However they do not provide much protection, as they are made from  a thing layer of plastic with a lining.

Inspectors found that this type of helmet easily cracks with just a minor blow.

Tran Hung, Deputy Head of the Market Surveillance Agency, said the agency would continue inspections. But he added that it would take some cooperation from the public to make their efforts effective.

Statistics from the Hanoi-based Vietnam-Germany Hospital showed that 33.8% of accident victims not wearing helmets resulted in some type of brain injury. This figure is three times higher than those involving victims with helmets.

Nguyen Hong Linh of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality, said that the ministries of Science and Technology, Industry and Trade, Public Security and Transport have collaborated to draft a decree on the production, import, trade and use of motorbike helmets.