No, it's not used, and it hasn't been crashed in. Icon simply decided to make it look that way. And don't call it "distressed" like the bill on some frat boy's hat. It's more like Optimus Prime's knuckles after kicking Megatron's ass.
This helmet is DOT and Snell approved, so you can ride assured of top level safety features. The cool paint is a special formula of rubberized polymers that has a rubber-like, grippy surface.