Helmet laws are stupid, as are any that protect me from my own idiocy. I wear a DOT-approved helmet almost always (quick jaunt to the beer store @ 35mph is when I skip it), but once again - MY CHOICE!!

 

IMO, there should be no helmet laws anywhere. If you wear a non-DOT helmet or no helmet at all, it will hurt nobody but yourself. Not wearing the right helmet will not cause an accident. If your stupid enough not to protect yourself that should be entirely up to you.

The only reason there are helmet laws is because of the insurance companies. They don't want to have to pay out the medical bills when you get hurt. It has nothing to do with motor vehicle safety.

 

thats why i dont ride in st clair shores or royal oak, i think they are bike hater cities. i get pulled over everytime i go there for no reason at alland they will say something stupid, why they pulled me over. so i fixed that problem, i just dont ride over there no more. problem solved. jackyl

 

In my state your not required to wear a helmet if your over 21 (but everyone has to wear a seatbelt, strange) but I live on the NC/SC border and NC requires helmets. I have been told there is nothing in NC law that states the helmet has to be DOT approved and to be real honest the way they have the police set up is Charlotte is strange so I think they all just claim it's the other departments problem.

On another note, I know a guy who had an old dirt bike helmet, took a razor blade and cut the label out of it and then sewed it into a beanine helmet, instant DOT approved helmet.

 

Recognizing Approved Helmets



Dot helmets go out past your ears.

A cop told me thats what he looked for in helmets. JimmyZ

 

their is nothing in writing that states that thought that I am aware of. i wonder how legal it is to pull you over for not wearing a DOT helmet... no way he would have known.

 

what kills me is thatLEO's enforce seatbelt laws where i live, but I can ride around with a non-dot helmet. Seatbelt fines are $175 btw. However, if I cross the BC border into Alberta, they would pull me over in a heartbeat.

 

You legally cannot be pulled over just for a non-DOT helmet. There is no visual conformation to weather your helmet is DOT or non-DOT. If you are pulled over, for any reason, do not take off your helmet. The officer needs a warrant. If you take off your helmet or you agree that your helmet is not an approved DOT helmet, then he/she can write you a ticket.

 

I guess I just don't get it? For those who reside in states which require the wearing of a DOT helmet, compliance should be a non-issue. If you are in disagreement with the helmet laws in place, seek to have the laws overturned in the legislature. But knowingly circumventing the law by virtue of either not wearing a helmet altogether or electing to wear what you know to be a non compliant device (novelty) is not - in my view - the best nor most effective means of protest. In short, if your state requires that you wear a DOT helmet - COMPLY. Otherwise, (and again, solely in my view) you're no different than any of those other scumbags out there who feel the laws don't apply to them. Just my take.

 

i have an old harley helmet from the 40s 50s that has a "approved by wisconsin dept.of motor vehicles" sticker on it. the sticker is red and looks like a license plate year sticker. in the 70s we had a helmet law and had to get our helmets inspected and approved at the DMV. would that make it a "legal" helmet in michigan?