Friday, May 27, 2011

Ride to the capitol

Comment from MA:
BTW: Mark, with respect to your question about helmet manufacturers buying stickers--- well we know it's not a sticker but it a portion of the helmet and therefore is labelled by the manufacturer before the helmet is tested--- if it ever is tested.  However, if you look at the NHTSA site with respect to helmets that have been tested--- more helmets fail than pass and the majority of the helmets seem to fail for "improper labelling."  Funny isn't it.  They get to approve their own helmets & apply their own labelling stating that the helmet meets DOT Standards.  Then when they are tested--- more fail than pass.  It's a wonderful world where cops and manufacturers get to screw the consumer.  That's why I'm a B.O.L.T. Member---- because I will fight them back & will do so on their own turf if it's advantageous to do so.



ReplyFrom California:


 
Yesterday I had a couple of riders tell me they didn't like the fact I was shocked they decided to wear their helmets on the ride to the Capitol for the helmet protest rally.  They have a Right to wear it if they want. Larry (Wolf) and I were the only ones out of 200 riders that rode the route to the Capitol unhelmeted.
 
Then a CHP officer pulls us over on the way home from the Capitol - definitely gonna write a ticket for "no DOT approved" helmet. Then he hedged it back to a fix-it ticket, but said it is weird that I could sign it, put a helmet on and turn around and ask him to sign it off as a corrected citation. Then he said "Why don't you just put that one on and I wont write it at all?" (I was explaining the "approved" helmet he thought he saw in my tour pack was a recalled helmet I only use for examples in Seminars on how it's impossible to tell by visual criteria if a helmet is illegal or legal.
 
So he (after 20 minutes) gets on his bike, and I say, "You sure you are wanting to order me to wear this illegal recalled helmet?"
He says: ...or you can just wait until after I ride away and do what you want.
 
Long story to get to the point: The cops know we are the ones who understand this stuff.
But the bikers don't think we are worth listening to. Pretty sad when the 1%ers get their feelings hurt by hearing us encourage them to choose not to wear a helmet. Then the CHP lets us school him, shakes our hand and rides away after agreeing with us.
 
I wont hurt any BOLT member's feelings by showing I am not afraid of the cops or the DOT.
I am going to send Henke a portion of all the DOT sticker sales. What would be a good enough percentage?  

 
Mark Temple