We first covered the Reevu helmet, with its built-in rear view mirror for motorcyclists, back in 2005. It's an excellent idea - a rider's vision and situational awareness are huge components of road safety. The more you know about what's happening around and behind you, the more options you've got in an emergency or a simple lane change situation. Well, it's been a long road to the market, but Reevu has finally announced that its RV MSX1 helmet has passed European standards testing, and is now available for distribution. It should be homologated for use worldwide in the near future, and if the final price is right, we're sure these guys are onto a real winner.

The idea behind the Reevu is as simple as the brand name - a helmet with a built-in rear view mirror panel that delivers the rider a constant view of the road behind. Reevu achieves this by using a rear-facing panel that takes in light, then bends it around the head using lightweight polycarbonate mirrors, finally directing it toward the eye in a small mirror positioned at the top of the rider's field of vision.

The effect is reportedly pretty much exactly like looking in your car's rear view mirror. That is, it doesn't replace the venerable headcheck (what was it they said in driving school, a mirror only says "no" - it can't say "go") but it gives you a load more information to work with than the typical mirror setup on a motorcycle.

Yeah, the above looks like a Photoshop to us too. But we can appreciate how hard it would be to photograph.

Having now passed the European ECE-ONU 22-05 homologation standard for road use, including its extensive safety testing component, the MSX1 is now ready for distribution in Europe. Demand is sure to be high - this is a significant safety advance and the first helmet of its kind - and Reevu seems to want to see how it goes meeting that demand before submitting the lid to other markets for certification.

We'd certainly love to have this kind of capability - even if only to see the fear in the eyes of our gorgeous pillions. Heh heh. We'll bring you initial pricing and availability when we get more information.

More info at the Reevu site, or check out this video review from WebBikeWorld. Skip to around 2:30 to hear about the rear view system.