The DOT Cerificate does not represent any amount of testing. Helmets are NOT approved by DOT. Only testing facility with jurisdication is one appointed by NHTSA and they have not tested ANY helmet since 2008 and only 39 were tested that year.
Lawsuit filed claiming discrimination of Nevada's helmet law..By Heather Klein
Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - There's claims of discrimination over the state's helmet laws. According to the Las Vegas Sun, several motorcyclists are suing the county and five cities. The lawsuit claims the enforcement is arbitrary and discriminatory.The Las Vegas Sun is reporting the suit was filed in U.S. District Court and could impact 40,000 motorcycle riders in Clark County.
Fred Harrell is one of the top guys at the Las Vegas Harley-Davidson store on Eastern. We asked him flat out if he thinks there's discrimination involved with enforcing Nevada's helmet law.
"I don't know, I would like to think not, however this is the real world," Fred Harrell answered.
In the real world, Fred says he's heard a lot of talk. According to a Las Vegas Sun article twelve motorcycle riders filed a class action lawsuit against Clark County and five cities within it. The suit claims the cities and county have an ongoing pattern of issuing helmet tickets to riders that are not supported by constitutionally sufficient probable cause.
Action News found one rider who's says he's seen it first hand.
"Yes, I have, as far as the skully, the peanut helmets we are not allowed to wear those," motorcycle rider, Dushawn Pitchferd, says.
Fred says he agrees the issue is with the actual helmets. A number of Harley helmets have DOT stickers, which certifies a certain amount of testing. But Fred explains a number of motorcyclists complain they're still getting tickets even with the stickers because the standard for Nevada's helmet law isn't clear enough.
"When you wear the full face helmet, not an issue, when you wear something like this, (holding a half helmet) you're being pulled over because it doesn't look like you have an approved helmet," Fred says.
Fred says Nevada has no testing facility of its own and that makes it difficult to say what helmet is 100% legal and what could get you a ticket.
The lawsuit also claims a number of cases are dropped once they reach the appeals court level. So if you can afford to appeal your case, it will be dropped. If not, you have to pay.
This lawsuit hasn't been made fully public yet, as soon as it does we will get further details and bring them to you.
From Fred:
(http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/130758608.html)
I believe that you will see that it was less edited than the report that ran on Channel 8.
Dear Fred,
Thank you for your email. To be fair to you, I am forwarding it - along with this email - to everyone that got the original email (about 100 contacts.) And right-off-the bat, I will admit that you were portrayed better in the Channel 13 News report.
I still believe your primary agenda is to sell helmets - I could be wrong, but that's my opinion - and whether I'm right or wrong is insignificant.
And while I have no evidence that you did anything to KILL SB177, you certainly did NOTHING to promote it. Your letters to the senators were milk-toast, politically-correct, begging the "master" to give us choice. I eventually accepted that you have a right to express yourself as you see fit.
A few people disagree with my approach to CRUSH the enemy with facts, truth, and by getting in their grill when they lie to try to screw us. You, in particular, wore me out with your attempts to tone me down. I got fed up and emailed you a final rant using classic "TigerLily" choice words to get you off my back.
In my view, you were a coward to send that email to Spud to do your dirty work. Spud forwarded my email with my "salty" language and made a veiled threat to him to fire me or be sued. But you both found out that my boss is a man of honor, fairness, and character who will NOT be bullied !!
As for the Channel 13 news story - thank you for that link - I hadn't seen it and it is the best coverage I've seen about the class action lawsuit.
You made two comments in the interview that illustrate how you and I differ:
When the reporter asked if you thought there was discrimination when enforcing Nevada's helmet law you said, "I don't know. I would like to think not." That is a big fat lie, Fred, and YOU KNOW IT! Cops have been profiling motorcyclists and using our bullshit helmet law to MERCILESSLY abuse us. Your body language said it all when you gave your answer. You looked upwards and leaned back so as to distance yourself from the truth.
I understand your position - you work for HD LV - and I suspect many of your customers are cops. I don't begrudge you for being disingenuous. I am fortunate that I am not beholding to anyone for my livelihood so I would have looked at that reporter in the eyeballs and flat out said - HELL YES! Cops are profiling, abusing their power, and using the helmet law to violate us - BIG TIME!
Our sides are presented - I'm sure there will be those that agree with YOU and I'm cool with that. But don't expect me to change - I have every intention of pushing to the legal max to restore rights to motorcyclists that are LONG OVERDUE!
Sincerely,
TigerLily
Lily Gonzalez, Las Vegas, NV, 702-417-6260
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I don't ride to be safe, I ride to be free.