Eye-catching designs, prices starting from only a few tens of thousands of VND are making many consumers unintentionally bet on their lives when participating in traffic.
Matrix" of counterfeit goods labeled as genuine
Just type the keyword "Masontex helmet" on popular e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada or TikTok Shop, users are immediately surrounded by a series of stalls offering products with prices ranging from tens of thousands to under 200,000 VND.
To create trust for buyers, most of these booths attach beautiful keywords such as: "100% genuine goods", "high-end backpacking helmets", "standard quality accreditation". However, when compared with genuine products or standard standard goods, these cheap products reveal a series of abnormal signs: no Vietnamese sub-labels, lack of information about the manufacturer/importer, and completely no conformity stamp (CR) according to legal regulations.
Worryingly, many virtual stalls also use the "seeding" trick to create large purchases and fake 5-star ratings. This makes consumers easily fall into the psychological trap of trusting and spending money, while verifying the actual quality through images online is almost impossible.
Unpredictable dangers from the "coffin" hat
According to the National Technical Regulation QCVN 2:2021/BKHCN of the Ministry of Science and Technology, helmets for motorcyclists and motorbikes circulating on the market must strictly meet structural standards including: load-bearing helmet shell, shock-absorbing buffer layer (specialized EPS foam suction) and sturdy strap system. At the same time, the product must have full labels clearly stating the origin and conformity mark (CR stamp).
In terms of traffic safety techniques, the most important role of standard helmets is to absorb and disperse the impact force when an accident occurs, maximizing the protection of the head of the vehicle operator.
On the contrary, for cheap, floating helmets, manufacturers often use crunchy recycled plastic, flimsy foam or even no force-absorbing layer to optimize costs. When there is a strong impact, these helmets not only lose their ability to completely neutralize force, but the crunchy plastic shell can also pierce the head and face, causing extremely dangerous secondary injuries to the wearer.
Management responsibility and consumer vigilance
To bring a standard helmet to the market, genuine manufacturing units must invest in technology lines, quality testing laboratories, pay taxes and comply with strict conformity certification procedures. Conversely, the fact that unlicensed processing workshops or floating sources of goods circumvent dumping laws not only causes market disruption and unhealthy competition but also pushes consumers into danger.
Helmets are not simply items to deal with traffic police or a fashion accessory, but a life-protecting device.
Faced with the "matrix" of cheap helmets on e-commerce platforms, market management agencies and e-commerce platforms need to further tighten the inspection of booths and strictly handle cases of trading in substandard products. On the consumer side, they should absolutely not trade their own safety and the safety of their loved ones for saving tens of thousands of dong.
