A fatal motorcycle accident in San Diego County on Jan. 30, 2011. (CAL FIRE San Diego)
After years of inaction, federal regulators are trying to crack down on the use of cheap novelty helmets linked to thousands of motorcycle crash deaths and injuries in recent years.
The novelty helmets do not comply with federal safety standards, and provide little or no protection against head injuries in a crash. Still, as FairWarning has reported, tens of thousands of the helmets — also known as “loophole lids” or “brain buckets” – every year are imported from overseas and peddled over the Internet.
But now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing rules to cut off the supply of novelty helmets and make it easier for state law enforcement officials to identify offending gear on the road. Together, NHTSA officials say, the moves could save dozens or even hundreds of lives annually.
The helmets are snapped up by motorcyclists because they sell for as little as one-third the price of compliant helmets; lighter and less durable, they also offer more comfort.
For years sellers have skirted the law by using disclaimers that say the helmets are not intended for highway use — even though they have been marketed to motorcycle riders.
The NHTSA proposal would for the first time require distributors to make sure the helmets they sell comply with the agency’s standard for manufacturers, known as Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 218. They would also limit the ability of distributors to insulate themselves from legal liability. The rules appear to give NHTSA the power to shut down novelty helmet distributors as they currently operate.
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NHTSA failed to respond to interview requests. But in a prepared statement, agency administrator Mark Rosekind said: “Wearing a helmet that meets DOT standards can literally mean the difference between life and death. Our proposal ensures that when motorcyclists put on a helmet it offers that life-saving protection.”
Federal officials have long been aware of the dangers of novelty helmets. In the Federal Register notice of the proposed rule, NHTSA cited a 2009 study of injured motorcyclists in Maryland. In the study, 56 percent of those wearing a novelty helmet had serious head injuries versus just 19 percent of riders wearing a DOT-certified helmet.
A novelty helmet for sale on the Internet.
Novelty helmet use is especially common in some states. NHTSA reported that in states requiring helmets, the proportion of motorcyclists observed wearing substandard gear has ranged from 8 percent to 27 percent. Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia require motorcyclists of all ages to wear helmets that meet DOT or other standards.
The NHTSA proposal “sounds promising if you are at all interested in getting bogus helmets off the street,” said Ed Becker, executive director of the Snell Memorial Foundation, a North Highlands, Calif., group that develops helmet standards. “It may discourage the sale of these to the point that a lot of the interest in them will dry up.”
NHTSA is seeking public comment on the proposal until July 20. Even if a final rule is adopted, the agency said, manufacturers would have two years to comply.
The novelty helmet industry and rider groups are expected to contest the proposal.
“I don’t think anybody is going to roll over and die and say, ‘OK, government, you win. We are out of business,’” said Karl Steinmeyer, a Grand Rapids, Mich., retailer who sells DOT and novelty helmets on the Web site www.BadAssHelmets.com. “I think there is always going to be a market for something like that [novelty helmets] so long as bikers are trying to look cool on the road.”
NHTSA said 235 to 481 lives could be saved every year if all novelty helmet users in states that have helmet laws switched to approved helmets. Even if just 5 percent to 10 percent of current users made the switch, 12 to 48 lives annually would be saved in what the agency called “a modest and achievable projection.” The estimated extra cost of a DOT-approved helmet, NHTSA said, is $48.92.
The proposal would also give police simple tests to identify illegal helmets, and curb a practice of riders using counterfeit DOT helmet stickers to avoid detection.
For example, any helmet with an inner liner that is less than three-quarters of an inch thick would be considered inadequate. Law enforcement could measure the liner thickness with a thin metal probe such as a pin or needle.
“For law enforcement, this is a good thing. It gives us something that is tangible,” said Jim Halvorsen, a retired New York state police lieutenant, and motorcycle safety expert. But Halvorsen said questions remain about how vigilantly such a law would be enforced because many cops are still unable to distinguish novelty helmets while others have a laissez-faire attitude.
The Governors Highway Safety Association estimates that motorcycle fatalities totaled 4,584 in 2014. The figures have declined in recent years, but still are up 85 percent from 15 years ago, even as highway deaths overall generally have declined. According to the association, motorcycles account for just 3 percent of registered vehicles but 14 percent of traffic fatalities.
“The problem has been understood for a long time,” said Allan Williams, a consultant for the association and former chief scientist at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Referring to the new NHTSA proposal, he added: “Action by the federal government does not come early or easily.”
There should be more restrict laws for those who sell uncertiffied helmets.
To me it’s very simple, if you want to survive a crash as a non-vegetable, you wear the best quality helmet available. As a former motocrosser & long time rider, I’ve eaten both dirt and pavement, wearing quality helmets every time. I know from long experience that every rider will crash at least once before hanging it up. Period.
That said, I think each rider should be able to wear (or not wear) whatever they want. In addition, insurance companies should be able to charge higher premiums &/or deny coverage to anyone who rides w/no helmet or a substandard helmet. Moreover, only riders &/or their passengers who are wearing true DOT approved helmets at the time of a crash should be eligible for treatment by any emergency &/or medical personnel or facilities at public expense.
I know that may sound harsh to some, but evolution should be allowed to take its natural course…
The government should have a standard, the consumer should have the choice. I wear a top of the line Arai full coverage $800 helmet, I like helmets so I have two, one black, one red. I was talking to a rider the other day, he paid $19.95 for a beanie and had a german looking one he paid $39 for. A baseball cap would afford as much protection as the tiny beanie, but I would never legislate that he must wear my kind of helmet, or anything for that matter.
I know motorcycles are dangerous, after 50 years of riding, racing and selling them I have a pretty good idea of the reality. I’m 64, I have two bikes, a very fast Ducati 1199 and a BMW RT for long distance, I accept that these two machines are the probable future cause of my demise. We really do NOT want your protection by laws we didn’t ask for from people that have never ridden.
A welcome move indeed! However, implementing this rule is easier said than done. It is almost an impossible task to identify between the novelty helmets and the complaint ones. The first thing that should be done in this case is to take measures to stop the supply of novelty helmets to stores. All store owners must be given strict orders to not sell such cheap quality helmets and for those who violate the laws, stringent action must be taken. Another important step is motorcyclists should be made to realize that the money they are saving by buying cheap helmets is coming at a price – the price of their lives. How to identify novelty helmets should also be taught.
Here’s the problem. In traffic court, you will get fined for wearing a non-DOT approved helmet. Only you won’t, because judges will give you a pass if you argue that, since you bought the helmet at a store, you had every reason to think it was an approved helmet.
So you lose your crappy helmet, don’t pay a dime, and are free to go out and buy another fake plastic German helmet with a pointy thing on top.
First, an irreverent side note: I would be interested to know if Outlaw motorcycle gangs favor novelty helmets over compliant helmets. On the one hand, maybe they are so busy shooting each other over their criminal enterprises or over parking spaces in Waco TX or the lack of bullet proofing on compliant helmets may make them seemingly irrelevant. On the other hand, outlaws know a thing or two about crashes and may have respect for the realities. Their approval could make for an interesting public service commercial.
Meanwhile, though, again I am fascinated by the steady resilient insistence of some Americans for their freedom to kill and maim themselves as they see fit, and the anger they have at efforts to stop it. I well remember the fights over requirement for any type of helmet at all, fights over seat belts in cars, rules against riding in the back of pickups, etc etc etc. (I also remember seeing a rarely shown version of Heaven’s Gate and the new immigrants from Europe are riding into the wild west on top of an overflowing train and I was thinking, gosh, how grand, now adventurous! )
Back to reality — the point risk taking freedom lovers always finesse is that insisting on their freedom of risk necessarily forces duties and obligations onto that same contemptible mothering government to deal with and pay for any problem that results. It also finesses the fact that most risk decisions are really poor expense priority decisions, and not about freedom at all. This is central to the whole debate about health care — the freedom to make decisions/avoid expense that effect medical risk vs the fact these “freedom” decisions all force impacts on the duties and obligations of society. Stories about the difficulties getting motorcyclists to accept required safe helmets helps with perspective on the difficulties creating any sort of national healthcare plan. Its amazing that Obamacare has made it as far as it has given our national sentimentality for immigrants riding on top of trains without seatbelts and cowboys riding down stampedes without helmets. But times, they do change, and those immigrants and cowboys were really on their own, not pretend on their own.