It may be too early to start this thread but I thought it might help to post any personal experiences or factual, 2nd person stories in a thread to see if/how LEO's are enforcing the new helmet law statewide in NC. So, if you experience anything, or hear anything you believe to be 100% true, about helmet law enforcement from January 1, 2008 forward, please post it here.

If you just want to bash or whatever, there are other threads on the new law to do that in.

 

Just Curious... What is this new law anyway???

 

Reference this thread, among others for more information on the new law.

https://www.hdforums.com/m_2641087/tm.htm

 

Here is a link to the actual standard. If I printed off a copy, and if I get stopped by a LEO, I plan to have a VERY long conversation with him. My helmet IS legal, but I suspect we are in for a LONG battle.

www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/571.218.htm

 

Your link looks like the fed law. I need the actual new NClaw enacted on Jan. 1. Does anyone have a link?
Thanks

 

The link:

http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2007/B...ML/H563v6.html

all the way to the bottom

 

One of my customers is a long time City of Hickory Police Officer. I asked him last week if they had written any tickets concerning the "new" helmet law. His response was, "what new law"...He knew nothing about the new law. We continued our conversation about helmets, and he said as long as you had something on your head that looked like a helmet, they really didn't care if it was *legal* or not....

 

Sounds good, hope others follow the same pattern. Regardless we need to keepdoing what we can to make this aRiders Choice state. Just the thought of being able to decide makes me feel better

 

Good to hear. I haven't had a chance to chat up any of my LEO buddies lately but I'll sure ask if any have been told to put any emphasis on it. That being said, I've talked to them about helmets before and they all tell me the same thing your customer did for the most part. Same thing about seat belts too. They might write you up for either if they stop you for another reason but, according to them, they aren't going to stop you just for those violations alone. Let's hope it stays that way. I went out for a ride today and really wanted to hear my new pipes so I took the novelty with me. I passed 2 city cops and neither payed me any attention.

 

Hey Hawgnuttz,

I always wear my helmet when I ride. I own several and prefer to wear a shorty when it's hot and a full face when it's cold. When the missus and I ride together we wear 3/4 helmets so the comm units fit right. I've said all that to say this, while my personal choice is to wear a helmet when I ride (regardless of the law concerning helmets) I don't think it is any of the guvmint's business whether I do or not. It is also none of their business whether or not I wear a seatbelt. This is typical big-brother stuff that we're seeing more an more of. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with laws regarding safety restraints for children. They aren't old enough to make such decisions for themselves and, unfortunately, some parents/guardians aren't bright enough to make the right choice. But choices about seat belts and helmets endanger no one but the person making that choice.

My question is this, if you've got to wear a helmet anyway why not wear one that at least offers some level of protection? My shorty helmet leaves a lot of unprotected area compared to a full face or even 3/4 helmet. But it is DOT approved and, as such, offers some level of protection if my goard hits something harder than it is (a difficult task, but doable.) It is also just as comfortable as any novelty helmet I've tried. The novelty helmets, however,don't even make good brain-buckets and definitely don't absorb any shock related to an impact. I've been curious about this for some time. Maybe ya'll can enlighten me.

Joe