This past Monday, US DOT Secretary Mary Peters proposed new safety rules for motorcycle helmets. You can find the press release here.
Our motorcycle safety coordinator, Joe Tyree, has mentioned on several occasions that many riders today are still wearing novelty helmets-ones that are not DOT certified, also known as "brain buckets". Isn't that awful? Anyways, its a known fact that helmets offer a great deal of protection in a crash and can reduce the risk of serious injury and fatality, but if the helmet is not DOT certified, it may not offer the same protection-thus the gruesome nickname.
The new rules would make manufacturers place more tamper-resistant labels on their helmets, thus making it harder for vendors to remove them off of good helmets to stick them on the novelty ones.
The proposed rules would also make the testing done to helmets more stringent. The improved labeling and testing system should give consumers more confidence that they are buying a safe helmet.
Because Joe is out of the office this week, our fearless leader, Bob Tipton, graciously modeled approved and unapproved helmets for this blog so you could see the difference.
Novelty helmet-he looks ready for the road now, doesn't he?
DOT Approved helmet-See the big DOT logo? The bad thing is, some novelty vendors will actually remove the stickers from approved helmets, and place them on helmets like the one in the first set of pictures.
Any motorcycle enthusiasts out there? What are your thoughts on the proposed new rules, or on helmets, period?
