Helmet shopping

Please see attached letter I received from NHTSA & used to fight battles in Mass. Your dealer has no idea what he was talking about.
SNITCHES ARE A DYING BREED
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:22:08 -0600
Subject: Helmet shopping

Went shopping for a helmet today. Wanted to find out what the dealer knows (doesn't know) about the product testing. Here is what I found out.

1. The DOT sticker means that the DOT has approved the helmet.
2. The label on the inside tells what the DOT has approved, and if you do any of the stuff they warn you about, you are breaking the law.
3. If you remove the labels you are breaking the law.
4. That a full-face helmet is the safest helmet because it covers more of your head.
5. I asked about buying a different clip for the strap. They don't sell them because they are illegal.
6. The helmets are tested by the government and when I asked him if all helmets are tested, he said he 'thought' so
7. When I asked what they tested, he said 'Oh, to see if it crushes under certain forces and stuff 'like' that, they want to see if it will 'hold up' in a crash; its all very technical, but they all have to pass or they can't be sold'.
8. I said that I wanted to make sure I was getting the 'best helmet I could buy, and his eyes lit up as he showed me some that cost over $400 dollars. I mentioned that they looked just like the ones that were $150 and he said that 'these are engineered better'.
9. I asked him if he could give me any literature about how to choose the best helmet. Among the helmet brochures, I also got a copy of the WSP publication 'Bogus Helmet Brochure'

Ray,
Can you imagine an episode of BULLSHIT! with Penn and Teller tearing this apart? I think it would be a great show!
jan

your research shows what we already know: dealers and shops know shit about helmets, other than what the different prices are. I'll bet several of the helmets he showed you were illegal because they have things that are raised above the surface more than allowed by law. Don't tell him about that, he'll get confused and maybe not be able to find his way home after work. Unfortunately, many still believe there is something like DOT approved helmets. Others think if the sticker is there, it's been tested. Still others think the more helmet you buy, the more protection you have. And most sad, these guys rely on the brochures they get from NHTSA or law enforcement to describe what a helmet is.
You may have to slap this salesman a couple of times to snap it out of him, but I think most of these guys are already brain damaged. Good work,

I've read similar explanations about labeling and manufacturers duty and duty of a consumer. Of course we all knew that a consumer does not have to maintain any labeling, etc. My question now, after all this time, is it's evident that helmets are personal property and you can use your property however you see fit as long as it doens't hurt "anyone else". If I can take labeling off, paint my helmet, etc, what would stop me from removing padding. In fact, I used to take all the padding out of my helmet in the '70s and it would sit comically low on my head. I did it for comic relief and photos. Got a lot of stares from cops, but never pulled over. Just a thought.

The cops will always be the problem. NHTSA brochures got them confused & they believe the DOT sticker is the law. That's why we went after this letter to use as evidence when our people had to fight a ticket.


NHTSA,RESPONDS
This responds to your letter seeking information about the labeling requirements in Federal motor vehicle safety standard No.218, Motorcycle Helmets (49 CFR 571.218). You ask if the D.O.T. label must remain on the helmet after a consumer purchased it. Next, you ask if you are liable for prosecution if you paint your helmet or apply a decal over the D.O.T. label.
As you are aware, Standard No.218 establishes performance requirements for motorcycle helmets intended for use on public highways. S5.6.1 of Standard No.218 requires that: “Each helmet shall be permanently and legibly labeled…” with the DOT certification mark.
In regard to individual consumers and their own helmets, Federal law does not prohibit the helmet’s owner or any other person that is not a manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or repair business from removing or covering the label from a motorcycle helmet. Thus, the owner of a motorcycle helmet is permitted to remove or cover the label from his or her helmet for any reason without violating any provision of Federal law or Standard No.218.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions or need some more information on this subject, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Otto Matheke of my staff at this address, or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.
Sincerely,

Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel

NHTSA,RESPONDS AGAIN
TYPE: INTERPRETATION- NHTSA
DATE: 12/08/88 EST
FROM: ERIKA Z. JONES -- CHIEF COUNSEL, NHTSA
TO: WAYNE IVIE -- MANAGER, VEHICLE SUPPORT SERVICE SECTION, OREGON DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
ATTACHMENT: LETTER DATED JULY 12, 1988 FROM WAYNE IVIE, MGR., VEHICLE SUPPORT SERVICE SECTION, OREGON DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION TO NHTSA; OCC2420
TEXT: This responds to your letter seeking information about the labeling requirements in Standard No. 218, Motorcycle Helmets (49 CFR @ 571.218). You noted that Oregon recently enacted a mandatory helmet use law which adopted Standard No. 218 as the minimum standard for helmets. You correctly noted that section S5.6.1 of Standard No. 218 requires subject motorcycle helmets to be permanently and legibly labeled with specified information, including the symbol "DOT" as a certification that the helmet complies with Standard No. 218. However, you stated that you have received reports that the labeling required by Standard No. 218 is not present on many helmets, either because it has fallen off or been removed by someone. You said that there is often no other identification of the manufacturer or brand name on the helmet. Accordingly, it is not possible for the owner of a helmet without the Standard 218 label present to contact a dealer or manufacturer for information about the helmet. You then asked several questions about the labeling requirements set forth in Standard No. 218.
Before answering your specific questions, I would like to provide some general background information on Standard No. 218. Prior to October 3, 1988, Standard No. 218 applied only to helmets that could be placed on the size C headform. The helmet manufacturers estimated that approximately 90 percent of all motorcycle helmets were subject to Standard No. 218, because they could be placed on the size C headform. However, helmets manufactured before October 3, 1988 that could not be placed on the size C headform (these were typically smaller sizes of helmets) were not subject to Standard No. 218. Hence, manufacturers of helmets that could not be placed on the size C headform were not required by Standard No. 218 or any of our other regulations to label any information on these helmets. In fact, manufacturers could not label the DOT certification symbol on those helmets that were not subject to Standard No. 218. See the enclosed December 4, 1987 letter to Mr. Hoppe for more information on this subject.
We published a final rule on April 6, 1988 that extended the requirements of Standard No. 218 to all motorcycle helmet sizes (53 FR 11280). This rule became effective on October 3, 1988. Accordingly, all motorcycle No. 218 and must be labeled in accordance with the requirements of S5.6 of that standard.
With this background, your question can be answered as follows. For the approximately 10 percent of helmets manufactured before October 3, 1988 that could not be placed on the size C headform, Standard No. 218 did not apply to them, so there was no requirement for any information to be labeled on these helmets. Any such helmets would not display a "DOT sticker" because they were not required or permitted to display such a sticker when they were new, not because the sticker "fell off" or was removed.
However, Standard No. 218 applied to approximately 90 percent of all helmets manufactured before October 3, 1988 and applies to every motorcycle helmet manufactured on or after that date. For those helmets, S5.6.1 of Standard No. 218 requires that: "Each helmet shall be permanently and legibly labeled . . ." with the manufacturers name or identification, the precise model designation, the size, the month and year of manufacture, the DOT certification mark, and warning instructions. (emphasis added) In an October 16, 1973 letter to the Cycraft Co., NHTSA stated that the requirement that helmets be permanently labeled prohibits the use of labels that can be removed easily by hand without tools or chemicals.
You stated that you have heard of two reasons why helmets that originally had a DOT certification label would no longer have such a label. One of the reasons was that the affixed label was a "sticker" and it "fell off." Standard No. 218 permits manufacturers to label the required information on the helmet by means of a "sticker," provided that the label is permanent and legible and contains all the information required by S5.6. A "sticker" that falls off the helmet would not appear to be permanent within the meaning of Standard No. 218, so this would be an apparent noncompliance with the standard. If you have any evidence that "stickers" are falling off helmets, please forward that information to our Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance at this address, and we will take appropriate actions.
The second reason that you have heard for helmets no longer having the labeling required by Standard No. 218 is that someone removed the label to paint the helmet and failed to put the label back on the helmet. Section 108(a)(2)(A) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C 1397(a)(2)(A) ) prohibits any manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or repair business from "knowingly render[ing] inoperative any device or element of design installed on or in a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment in compliance with an applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard." In this case, the label on motorcycle helmets is a device or element of design installed on the helmet in compliance with Standard No. 218. If a manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or repair business removed that label and failed to put it back on the helmet, then those entities would be rendering the label inoperative, in violation of Federal law. Again, if you have any evidence that violations of Federal law have occurred in your State, please forward that evidence to our Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance and we will take appropriate actions.
Please note that Federal law does not prohibit the helmet's owner or any other person that is not a manufacturer, distributor, dealer, or repair business from removing the label from motorcycle helmets. Thus, the owner of a motorcycle helmet is permitted to remove the label from his or her helmet for any reason without violating any provision of Federal law. The individual States are free to establish requirements for motorcycle helmets used in their State, and could prohibit an owner from removing the label.
You suggested that the problem of missing labels could be solved if this agency were to require that the DOT symbol be embossed on or in the helmet. NHTSA considered and rejected this suggestion 15 years ago when it established Standard No. 218. In the August 20, 1973 preamble to the final rule that established FMVSS 218, we said: With respect to providing important safety information in the form of labeling, one comment recommended that, due to possible label deterioration, both the manufacturer' s identification and the helmet model designation should be permanently marked by etching, branding, stamping, embossing, or molding on the exterior of the helmet shell or on a permanently attached component so as to be visible when the helmet is in use. The NHTSA has determined that the practical effect of this recommendation is accomplished by requiring each helmet to be permanently and legibly labeled. The method to be used to permanently and legibly affix a label for each helmet is therefore left to the discretion of the manufacturer. (38 FR 22391)
You finally asked if other jurisdictions have informed NHTSA of similar problems and sought suggestions on methods to resolve the situation where an apparently undamaged helmet would be in compliance with the standard except that it is not properly labeled. As noted above, approximately 10 percent of the motorcycle helmets manufactured before October 3, 1988 were not subject to Standard No. 218 and were not required to be labeled. To my knowledge, no other jurisdictions have informed this agency of problems akin to those raised in your letter aside from more general questions about labeling.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have any further questions or need some more information on this subject, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Marvin Shaw of my staff at this address, or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.
© U.S. Department of Transportation Internet Website; http://www.nhtsa. dot.gov/

AGAIN,
And there are other NHTSA letters that make it clear to me that a consumer can modify their helmet any way they want, including cutting the top out and wearing only the 6 inch diameter disc that remains. At my helmet stop the cops told me repeatedly that in order to find out what a compliant helemt looks like that I should go to a bike shop. What bunch of DUMBSHITS.......


Believe me. I have a large file of those letters as well as some responses from DOT and LEA. Some of what has been sent through this post today I did not have, and am placing in my file as well.

I realize this is not 'news' to anyone on this forum. It is not news to me either. I was merely relating the information I received today while I was looking at helmets. Since 218 language was added into RCW 46.37.530 this past year, the misinformation of helmets is rampant from all sources official or not.

I also received correspondence today from a WSP media relations officer in which I asked:
Q. Could you help me out with the # of the current WAC that pertains to Motorcycle Helmets, and do you have an official definition of what a helmet is according to the WSP (including reference or source)?

His response:
A. Sir, sorry for the delayed reply I have been out of the office. RCW 46.37.530 section 3 (The last section) gives the definition that also cites 49 CFR Sec. 571.218

Obviously that doesn't clear anything up (and I didn't expect to get a clear answer), but that also indicates that the WSP position is the language of the law and that language speaks for itself.

This is just a very wild thought from someone who has been accused of
being a member of the tinfoil hat brigade before, but hear it out. After
all the education I have had lately regarding property rights and the
Constitution, and how the government has managed to claim everyones'
property and tax it or seize it, and claim everyones' vehicle and own
it, ... or at least they claim partial ownership therefore authority to
tax or seize, if I did abide by helmet laws, I would not want a DOT on
my helmet for that very reason. It appears to be a step forward toward
an implied federal regulatory scheme over something that is not really
motor vehicle equipment. Personally, if I were to want to wear a
manufacturer certified helmet, the first thing I would do is cover the
DOT with electrical tape.

Absolutely, and 'they' can obtain a search warrant to see it!!!

Donnie

A warrant, or unlawfully threaten me, or unlawfully take it upon themselves, because I am not going to consent. Anything other than a warrant, Title 18 Section 242. Deprivation of rights under the color of law. Not just an IA report but also an FBI report, and if I had money for a lawyer a civil rights action.

WHAT THE FUCK,FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD!!!!!