Helmet Certification in Singapore

Which certifications are road-legal here?

Since 1 November 2025, Singapore recognises three helmet standards for road use, and a helmet needs to meet just one of them to be legal to ride with here. A helmet that meets none of them is not road-legal, no matter how good it looks. Under the Road Traffic Act, wearing (or selling) a non-approved helmet can carry a fine of up to S$1,000 and/or up to 3 months' jail for a first offence, rising to S$2,000 and/or 6 months for repeat offences. Minor lapses are often handled with a smaller composition fine, but those are the limits set by law.

PSB and SS 9. The Singapore baseline.

When riders say "PSB approved," they mean a helmet tested against Singapore Standard SS 9. The "PSB" nickname comes from TÜV SÜD PSB, historically the only lab accredited to run this testing; "SS 9" itself is simply a Singapore Standard number (first published back in 1970). From 1 November 2025, SS 9 testing can be done by any lab accredited by the Singapore Accreditation Council, and the Traffic Police approve the helmet type and handle road enforcement.

SS 9 covers shock absorption, chin-strap retention, field of vision and visor light transmittance, among other tests. According to the Singapore Police Force, the 2024 revision dropped the old penetration (spike) test, because there had been no record of penetrative head-trauma crashes locally in the past two decades, and strengthened rotational-impact protection by aligning with the international ECE 22.06 standard. Each SS 9 approval is tied to a specific helmet model and is valid for five years from the date of testing.

Approved helmet types are published in the Government Gazette, but there's no consumer-facing online registry to look up an individual SS 9 model, so verification is physical. Check that the sticker on the rear shell is intact and the test number is legible. If a label looks like it has been peeled and re-applied, treat the helmet as suspect.

ECE 22.06. The international standard now accepted here.

ECE 22 is the dominant international helmet standard, endorsed by more than 50 countries according to UNECE. Since 1 November 2025, the Singapore Traffic Police accept any helmet carrying an ECE 22.06 mark for road use, with no local retesting required.

What 22.06 added over the older 22.05:

• An oblique (rotational) impact test. The helmet strikes an anvil angled 15 degrees from vertical, and rotational acceleration must stay under a set limit. This is the kind of angled hit that MIPS and similar liners target.
• Testing at several impact speeds (6.0, 7.5 and 8.2 m/s) across many more points on the shell, including some chosen at random, rather than a single reference speed.
• Modular helmets tested in both positions, open and closed. These get a P/J rating.
• Visors tested against a 6mm steel ball fired at about 80 m/s (~180 mph); it must not be punctured and must not shatter into shards.

Common country codes: E1 is Germany, E2 France, E3 Italy, E11 the UK, E43 Japan.

DOT. On its own, not enough here.

DOT (FMVSS 218) is the American street helmet standard. It isn't accepted on its own in Singapore, but that rarely matters in practice. Most helmets that carry a DOT sticker also carry an ECE 22.06 E-mark on the chin strap, and that's what makes them road-legal here.

The one thing to remember is that DOT alone is not enough. If you're buying a helmet overseas or from a grey-market source, check the chin strap for an ECE 22.06 E-mark starting with "06". If a genuine ECE 22.06 mark is there, that standard is accepted here. If it's DOT-only with no SS 9 or ECE 22.06 label, it's not road-legal in Singapore. When in doubt about a specific helmet, confirm with us or the manufacturer before you ride.

Snell. Premium, voluntary, not enough on its own.

Snell is a US non-profit certification, entirely voluntary and highly respected in racing. The current motorcycle code is M2025 (M2020 is the previous standard, now being phased out). It's arguably among the most rigorous impact tests in the industry. The sticker sits inside the helmet under the comfort liner and can be checked against the certified-helmet lists at smf.org.

Snell on its own is not road-legal in Singapore. In practice this rarely matters, because most Snell-certified Arai, Shoei, and Bell helmets also carry ECE 22.06. The one to watch is a grey-market US import carrying only Snell and DOT.

SIRIM. Malaysian-legal. Not Singapore-legal.

SIRIM is Malaysia's national standards body. Helmets sold in Malaysia carry a holographic SIRIM sticker with a QR code; the exact position varies by brand, often inside near the padding or on the rear near the base. It's a real, enforced safety standard. It just isn't on Singapore's accepted-standards list. A SIRIM-only helmet is not legal to ride with here, even if it looks identical to a road-legal model.

The two stickers look alike. Both are holographic, serialised, tamper-evident, and sit inside the helmet. JB pricing makes the confusion worse, and new riders sometimes assume "Malaysian-approved" means "Singapore-approved." It doesn't.

If you ride across the Causeway regularly, look for a helmet that carries both an ECE 22.06 E-mark and a Malaysian SIRIM sticker. Many global models do.

Side by side

Three checks at the counter

Do these before buying any helmet, new, secondhand, or from overseas.

Sources & the fine print