$2 DOT Chinese Helmets

OFF THE WIRE
So you out-of-staters can appreciate why we are very pleased to be rid of Sutton, I wrote this on March 22, 2010 and sent it to Sutton and Faison and other reps and senators. As usual, there was no reply. I did have follow-up correspondence with the Senator in my district about the possibility of making suspected helmet violations secondary enforcement.

:
Representatives Sutton and Faison,
cc: my reps
The NC Governors Highway Safety Program, which asked for H563 in 2007, put one over on the NCGA majority, starting with Reps Sutton and Faison who sponsored the bill to embed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards into the helmet statute. Motorcyclists told you mandatory helmets are not a panacea, and there is no such term as DOT Approved in fact or in law. The DOT does not test prior to allowing cheap vehicle equipment onto the market. The NCGA didn't listen.

This article educates those who choose to learn that there is a misconception in the world that the marketing term "DOT approved" means that somehow our Federal government has tested this safety equipment (?) thereby giving its blessing that the safety (?) equipment is safe for the consumer to wear and be protected from some type of injury or death.
Get Your $2 DOT Chinese Helmets Here!
Mar 19, 2010, By Michael Gougis, ©Copyright 2010, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
The question is, would you bet your brain on the manufacturing quality control and energy absorbing ability of a $2 helmet? And if a $2 helmet can actually meet DOT and ECE standards, are those standards tough enough for racetrack use? You decide.
(This original, copyrighted material may not be copied, cut and pasted, published or otherwise reproduced in any way in any medium, which means, don't post this on another website or BBS. If you want somebody else to see this, send them a link or post a link to this page.)
Fun With Helmet Shopping: An Exercise In International Trading

Stuff is made in China today, especially factory-manufactured goods. Like any product made in any country, the quality can range from excellent to pure crap. Thanks to the Internet, anyone can get a glimpse into the underbelly of global commerce.

The links below are to companies that are offering for sale, in quantities of about 300 or more, helmets that they say are certified to U.S. Department of Transportation and/or ECE 22.05 safety standards. Prices for full-face helmets start at $2 per unit. Poke around the site (alibaba.com) for a while.

One of the features that you will note is that many of the manufacturers offer their clients the ability to design the helmet color scheme. The manufacturer can put whatever company name on the helmet that they client wants (within, of course, the limits of patent and copyright law).

The upshot is this: If you want to sell Whimpering Weasel helmets, you can go into business for a song, and sell helmets in the U.S. that most motorcycle road race organizations will allow you onto the track with.

You can also go to:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/comply/fmvss218/

There, you will find the results of federal DOT testing on what they manufacturer says is your helmet. The testing sample is provided by the company; the DOT does not test examples of the helmets on dealer shelves or in warehouses. You can click on the hyperlink on the far right and view the entire DOT report, if the manufacturer has contracted with a testing house for certification.

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/269241295/Full_face_helmets.html


http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/277440371/motorcycle_full_face_helmet_SD_176_.html

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/277447691/dot_motorcycle_helmet_WL_805_.html

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/242810239/Dot_motorcycle_helmet_603.html

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/276488942/DOT_helmet_DOT_motorcycle_helmet_Helmet.html

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/265065194/DOT_ECE_ABS_Full_face_Motorcycle.html

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/269241594/Full_face_helmets.html

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/241087161/Motorcycle_helmet.html

I want to know what you are going to do to stop the abusive practices and harassments by law enforcement, when enforcing helmet laws.

I was almost run down by a trooper eager to get a closer look at my helmet, and/or seeing if he could get me to flee. Police have been known to use pitting maneuvers (ram their vehicles into the motorcycle) to get fleeing motorcyclists to stop. I have heard of two NC motorcyclists killed by being run down by cops over what started out as a routine traffic stop for a minor violation. You do not know how bad things are until you experience Trooper Kendall Jackson bearing down on your back tire in his two and a half ton SUV like he doesn't even see you. Is that consistent with your idea of safety? The GHSP is now promoting motorcyclist only checkpoints (discrimination and profiling). All across NC, law enforcement officers threaten to impound motorcycles if a helmet is not to an officers liking. They use suspicion of helmet law violations as a primary reason to stop any motorcyclist, and then intimidate people to give up their right to refuse consent to search. They issue citations without testing helmets for compliance with FMVSS 218. The police are dangerous and out of control.

The courts are almost as bad. They are terribly overcrowded as a result of forcing people to show up numerous times, just so the prosecution can wear the defense down. This is the only state in which the prosecution has complete control of scheduling. The defense never knows exactly when a trial is going to be, and is often put "on call", along with their witnesses, forced to show up with two or three hours notice, even if their attorney is not available. There is no such thing as 'truth in courtroom scheduling'. SInce you are both lawyers, you should know exactly what I am referring to.

The two of you, Sutton and Faison, by your sponsoring of H563 in 2007 are the representatives most responsible for furthering the police abuse and harassment of NC motorcyclists. I want to know what you're going to do to correct this out of control situation.

Of course, I suggest repeal, because this is an important decision best made by the individual. I have drafted legislative proposals that puts compliance with FMVSS onto manufacturers and distributors, where it belongs according to USC Title 49, Chapter 301.

Perhaps you will AT LEAST make suspicion of helmet violations secondary rather than primary violations, so that it is no longer an excuse to abuse.
Text such as what you see below, if added to 20-140.4, would stop the harassment, abuse, absurd threats of impounding motorcycles over an infraction, and reduce the intimidation tactics of a man with a gun coercing people to consent to a search. It could also prevent an 'aggressive to the point of road rage' officer like Trooper Kendall Jackson from reckless tailgating in order to try to get a closer look and/or get a motorcyclist to flee.

No person shall be stopped or detained for suspicion of violating this section, and no citation shall be issued for violation of this section except as a secondary action to a moving traffic violation resulting in arrest.