Motorcycle Helmet Maker Forced to End Production

OFF THE WIRE
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/motorcycle-helmet-maker-forced-to-end-production/

Motorcycle Helmet Maker Forced to End Production
By CHRISTOPHER JENSEN
On its Web site, the motorcycle helmet manufacturer Advanced Carbon Composites warns buyers not to trust helmets made in China or India and instead to buy its American-made models. But the company's helmets have been recalled so many times by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, that the agency has demanded that the company never make another motorcycle helmet.

The agency's demand stems from what the it says is the company's failure to properly carry out three safety recalls since 2005.

The recalls involve about 17,000 helmets that failed to meet safety standards, including puncture resistance. That resulted in the agency's accusing the company of violating "various provisions" of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. The problem was worked out with a consent order signed at the end of March by the company's president, Kim L. Davis, that did not deny the violations.

Mr. Davis also agreed to the agency's demand that Advanced Carbon Composites stop designing, selling or manufacturing motorcycle helmets. In addition, motorcycle helmets can not be designed, sold or manufactured by any company of which Mr. Davis owns 3 percent or more.

Mr. Davis, whose company is based in Orlando, Fla., did not respond to several requests for comment.

According to the consent order, here's what happened.

In 2005, the company notified the agency that during testing, it found that its EXT 001 helmet did not provide enough protection to meet safety standards.

As part of its recall effort, the company changed the interior of the helmet, which it designated as a new model, calling it the EXT 002. Then, rather than replace the defective EXT 001 helmets it had already sold, Advance Carbon Composites modified them, a move approved at the time by the safety agency.

But the modified and recalled helmets still did not meet safety standards. Neither did the EXT 002. So in 2007 the company agreed to also recall the EXT 002.

The company then modified the construction again, called that helmet the EXT 003 and retrofitted the recalled EXT 002 helmets.

Those helmets still didn't meet the safety standard. The company agreed to another recall in 2009, this time of the EXT 003. Once again it modified the design of the helmet, but that didn't work, either.

About five years after the first recall, N.H.T.S.A. undertook a civil enforcement action against the company, leading to the consent order. Under that order, the company has agreed to refund the purchase price of those helmets, and N.H.T.S.A. says "under no circumstances" is the company to try repairs. The company will also pay fines totaling $10,000. If the company does not comply, the case will go to federal district court, according to the consent order.

Meanwhile, about two weeks after the consent order was completed, Advanced Carbon Composites notified N.H.T.S.A. that its model EXT 004 didn't meet federal safety standards, either. The company says the owners of those 645 helmets will get a refund, not a repair.

Biker Killed During Charity Ride
http://www.ksbw.com/news/14813258/detail.html
SEASIDE, Calif. -- A veteran motorcyclist from Pebble Beach died Saturday after a driver rear-ended him on Highway 1 in Seaside during a charity drive held by the Hell's Angels in Carmel Valley.Grief struck the Central Coast biker community as news spread of a fellow rider's death. Because the California Highway Patrol is still investigating the incident, the 62-year-old man's name has not been released.Officials said the man, who was with the local bike group, The Ephesians, was killed during the charity motorcycle run on his way to the Seaside American Legion for a celebration.Police said that a woman driving up the Canyon Del Rey onramp ready to merge onto northbound Highway 1 smashed into the man's Harley Davidson after he stopped his bike in front of the ramp. Some bikers said he was trying to protect the 60 or so riders who were also on the highway, getting ready to exit -- a move known as road guarding.On Sunday, the bikers remembered the fallen rider -- someone they said was not just a friend, but a brother.It was the first time someone died during the toy run in the 23 or so years the Hell's Angels have put it on.

__._,_.___