$30 unicorn helmet given five-star safety rating

Keeping your children safe need not cause lasting injury to the household budget, with a $30 children’s helmet among those rated as safest on the market.

The NSW Government’s second annual Helmet Safety Testing and Assessment Ratings (STAR) has awarded five stars to a $30 white unicorn helmet available from Kmart.

It joins the $22 Bluey helmet awarded five stars in 2024 as a value option with the highest safety. Children’s helmets on the market cost up to $290.

The children’s helmet rated as safest overall this year is the Fox Rampage Youth MIPS which retails at $290.

Modelled on ANCAP safety ratings for motor vehicles, Helmet STAR provides an easy-to-understand safety rating for new helmets based on comprehensive testing, giving a guide to parents and adult riders.

Each helmet is impact tested at the NSW Crashlab in Western Sydney where Transport for NSW technicians conduct examinations including vertical drops, a strap strength test, and drop tests with moving platforms.

The helmet’s ability to protect the user’s head in each scenario is tested and a star rating assigned. Helmets tested include models specifically for skaters and foot scooter riders.

One star means the helmet “meets the crash protection required by recognised helmet standards” in Australia, while five stars means the helmet is “exceptional in crash protection and well above the recognised helmet standards.”

The release of safety ratings for 54 bicycle helmets this year brings the total number of reviews and ratings available to 115 and the NSW Government urges all riders and parents to seek out the list.

This year the testing regime has been extended to rate both open-face and full-face mountain bike helmets with the $275 POC Tectal Race MIPS helmet taking out five stars in the open-face category and the $350 Met Parachute full-face helmet also achieving five stars.

Others awarded five stars include the $300 POC Ventral Air MIPS general purpose.

Check out the latest ratings here.