Authorities crack down on illegal motorcycle helmets

Tag : Motorcycle Helmets

To get around that, some vendors  mostly online  affix the U.S.Department of Transportation sticker on the novelty helmets andsell them to riders. The department is proposing a rule to make itharder, if not impossible, to illegally peel off those stickersfrom compliant helmets and add them to styles officials believe aremore dangerous.
The idea has added fuel to the helmet choice debate that begannearly 40 years ago, after many states passed laws requiring allriders to wear helmets. Many riders want to be able to choose ifthey wear a helmet, or at least which kind they can wear.
"The main thing is to be able to choose," said Dunn, who rode hisfirst motorcycle at age 13 in the early 1960s. "I wear the beaniebecause you can hear better, see better, it's cooler and it'slighter. It should be up to the individual."
The DOT disagrees and argues that the novelty helmets don't meetsafety standards to protect riders in an accident. In fact, suchhelmets fall short of the standard in every single federal safetytest.
"They all failed to meet one or more federal helmet standards fromhelmet chin straps that broke or they didn't stay on the head,"said Eric Bolton, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration.
Federal safety officials say if riders or vendors can't transferthe DOT label, then riders would be less likely to wear thenoncompliant helmets. The new tamper-proof labels also would belarger and more visible to law enforcement, who can stop riders forillegally wearing the beanies.
"The proposal would make it much more difficult for helmets to bemasquerading as DOT-certified helmets," Bolton said. "There havebeen cases of providers selling the DOT decals on the Internet thatpeople are putting on the non-compliant helmets."
The federal agency has to give people a 60-day period to comment onthe ruling before it goes into effect. The deadline is Nov. 30. Riders may be fined
According to the state Department of Safety, the penalty for notwearing a helmet or being caught with the beanie is a fine of about$136 but can vary slightly from county to county.
Since 1967, Tennessee's universal helmet law has required helmetsfor all riders. Only 20 states have such a law, while the resteither have no law or target specific age groups.
Most local motorcycle dealers don't sell the novelty helmets. DannyBost of Bost Harley-Davidson in West Nashville says he doesn't getmany requests for them, either.
"I've never used one," Bost said. "If you wear one of the noveltyones you might as well not be wearing one at all. It's the mostimportant piece of safety gear you can wear when riding."
There's no way to know how many in Tennessee wear the noveltyhelmets, in defiance of the law that requires all riders, includingout-of-towners passing through, to wear the approved ones. Thestate Department of Revenue has issued 164,979 motorcycleregistrations and more than 290,000 motorcycle licenses.
Dunn said he has only been stopped once, about three years ago, forwearing the novelty helmet. It happened in Maury County.
"I was given a warning and let go," said Dunn, who is a member ofthe Concerned Motorcyclists of Tennessee, a group that is in favorof relaxing the helmet laws. "I think if you're an adult and haveinsurance it should be your personal decision."
Motorcycle rights groups have made unsuccessful attempts to repealthe state helmet law.
Tom Quaranto, state director of Concerned Motorcyclists ofTennessee, said he doesn't believe helmets really make a differencein a crash. He nearly died in a 2003 accident after he broke 20bones in his body, all below the neckline.
"I don't feel any safer with a helmet on, but I know people whodo," Quaranto said. "This rule probably won't make a difference.The bottom line is, people should have a choice."
Contact Christina E. Sanchez at 615-726-5961 or cesanchez@tennessean.com .