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DOT Helmets not certified

Nice web site. Looks like if your in the market for a helmet it is a must see before you buy. Thanks
 
The DOT test isn't much in my opinion. I beleive that in layman's terms they put a 10# head form inside the helmet and drop it onto a flat, then round surface at about 17 feet per second. If there is no penetration into the head form, PASS. There's a little more to it than that, but that's the basics.

Say you lay your bike down at 40 mph and you are sliding head first toward a telephone pole... its your full body weight, not just your head, traveling at about 58 feet per second.

Like a construction helmet will protect you if someone drops a nut, but not if someone drops a crane... the helmet (if it has your name on it) will help them figure out who it is. That's all.

In my opinion, all a helmet does is protect your noggin from small incidental flying objects or scrapes from falling down. It actually just increases the wearers sense of safety, therefore increasing their boldness, which relates all too often to riding above their limits. If helmets were against the law, perhaps people would ride safer. Not that that is ever going to happen. I'm just saying - DOT doesn't mean "ride like a maniac, you're covered."
 
The DOT test isn't much in my opinion. I beleive that in layman's terms they put a 10# head form inside the helmet and drop it onto a flat, then round surface at about 17 feet per second. If there is no penetration into the head form, PASS. There's a little more to it than that, but that's the basics.

Say you lay your bike down at 40 mph and you are sliding head first toward a telephone pole... its your full body weight, not just your head, traveling at about 58 feet per second.

Like a construction helmet will protect you if someone drops a nut, but not if someone drops a crane... the helmet (if it has your name on it) will help them figure out who it is. That's all.

In my opinion, all a helmet does is protect your noggin from small incidental flying objects or scrapes from falling down. It actually just increases the wearers sense of safety, therefore increasing their boldness, which relates all too often to riding above their limits. If helmets were against the law, perhaps people would ride safer. Not that that is ever going to happen. I'm just saying - DOT doesn't mean "ride like a maniac, you're covered."

I am not sure, and certainly you can find all the test on the DOT website.
In EEC, you can't buy a helmet without the EC Certification, it's forbidden to ride with an unapproval helmet.

The helmets are tested by independent labs and the test is not only "to test the penetration", but also the jugular, the visor, the lock of the jugular, the visibily and more.
On the helmets you have the year of fabrication, E4 (actual norm) an a letter, depend on the country of fabrication.
After 5 years, normally you must change your helmet (plastics) or 10 years (fiber glass)
 
All the sticker means is that the manufacturer states that the helmet meets the standards. The DOT (nor any independant laboratory) does not test the helmets. It is up to the individual manufacturers to verify that their helmets meet the standards set by DOT.
 
A informed consumer is a educated customer. Good article. Thanks for posting...
 
My understanding is a "incident", crash etc. with a NON-DOT helment is a loophole your health and bike insurance can use to deny any claims, even if the helmet wasn't even an issue in the crash...all they have to do is prove "you were in violation" of the law. I think this one went all the way through the appeals process in the courts.
 
How about we all ride to the safest of our abilities whether we decide to ride while wearing a DOT approved helmet, skid lid, bandana, ballcap or hair blowing in the wind.

It is (if not, should be) your choice and I ride with some of the above methods depending on how I feel that day. Point is ride safe and enjoy what you enjoy if you have a choice. If you decide to ride without DOT approved helmet (or whatever in you part of the world you are in dictates to be "approved") you accept the risk of doing so.

david26 thanks for the link, one can never have to much information to make an intelligent decision when it comes to safety.
 
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