New Motorcycle Safety Rules

As an avid motorcyclist myself, and as the Secretary of the agency charged with road safety, I’m deeply concerned that the pastime I love has such a troubling safety record. Yearly increases in motorcycle fatalities and injuries have plagued the nation for nearly a decade. Yet we’ve seen a rise in the use of so-called “novelty” helmets, which aren’t safety-test or certified, and which do little to protect riders during an accident.

I’m a rider and I’ve been in a crash where I laid down my bike on the blacktop and my helmet took the impact of the crash.  The safety-tested and certified helmet I was wearing, which is battered and bruised and will never be used again, sits in my office as a reminder that it could have been my head that suffered those blows.

The simple lesson is this:  If you’re a rider like me, you’ve got to take responsibility for wearing the right gear, including a DOT certified helmet, so you don’t end up as a brain injury patient.

That’s why today, we’re proposing new safety rules to make it harder for vendors to sell unsafe novelty helmets or for riders to get away with wearing them. Our ultimate goal is to make it easier for riders to know in advance whether the helmet they buy will keep them safe.

We are proposing to do that by requiring manufacturers to place a larger, tamper-proof DOT label on the back of certified helmets that have been through a range of safety tests.  That’s because we’ve seen many cases of people putting fake DOT stickers on novelty helmets that don’t pass muster on safety.  Trust me, I’ve seen the cross section of one of these novelty helmets and you don’t want to be relying on one to protect you in an accident. 

Importantly, our proposal would also strengthen the tests helmets must go through to receive DOT certification, including updated tests on how the helmets hold up during impact, whether objects can penetrate the helmet and how well the helmet stays in place during a crash.

There’s a good reason for the safety changes we’re proposing today.    In fact, fatalities have more than doubled since 1997--increasing by 144 percent.  Motorcycles account for about 3 percent of the vehicles on the road, but they represent 13 percent of all crashes. Yet new data indicate that nearly one in five motorcycle riders in states with helmet laws wear a non-compliant helmet.

Ultimately, safety begins with the riders themselves.  Riders must do more to protect themselves by taking personal responsibility for their own safety, including wearing a DOT certified helmet.

You know, the good news is that more Americans than ever are experiencing the freedom of the open road through motorcycling.  It’s a great feeling to gear up for what might be a quick commute or a longer pleasure ride, to feel the wind in your face and see the blacktop stretching into the distance before you. That’s why I love it and that’s why I ride.  So to all those riders who love it as much as I do, I say gear up and ride safe. 

-Secretary Peters

Comments

[serial numbers]

I believe some riders wear helmets to make a statement rather than for protection. In Colorado helmets are optional. I see a lot of riders on the interstate with no helmet or any other kind of protection.

[Barry]

On a related subject, I would like to get a response on the issue of dual sport motorcylces. These motorcyles are arguably the safest motorcycles on the road. They are lite, maneuverable and can handle almost any terrain or obstacle. However, states like Kansas will not allow many of the dual sport motorcycles on the road, because the original MSO was for off-road. If a person can put a lighting kit on the bike and meet all the federal requirements, why can't these bikes be put on the road? The head of the Kansas DMV does not allow them because he is afraid of losing his federal highway dollars. Yet all the states around Kansas allow these motorcyles and benefit from the revenue, but not one of them has ever lost their federal dollars because they put them on the road. This also has been going on the better part of 30 years. Could a memo be put out from your office that allows these motorcylces on the road (with some kind of guidance)even though they do not have the federal safety tag (put out through the national highway transportation administration?) One way to get these bikes on the road, according to the head of the Kansas DMV, is to take the bike to a "federally certified modifier", of which non exist to my knowledge. This modifier is supposedly someone who can perform the mods and generate a federal plate/tag for the bike. How does one become one of these federally certified modifiers? Dualsporting is gaining a huge following in the past few years. It gives individuals a chance to see the US through the "back roads" and trails. Yet in a quest for more safety in handling some of the more technical trails the riders are searching for bikes that weigh as little as possible. Those that are made currently like the KLR 650 and DRZ 400 are heavy and cummbersome. So riders are putting lighting kits on bikes like the KTM 400exc and WR450's and trying to get them taged for the road. We have found ways to allow a model A or model T on the road and call it safe, but somehow these bikes are labeled as "not safe" just because they did not originally go through the process of getting the federal safety tag put on. Surely there is something that can be done. Think of the fuel saved. Think of the reduced emissions due to more and more of these bikes being put on the road.

[Head Wrap]

I cannot believe how many people do not follow the helmet laws and get away with it. A head wrap is not a helmet!

http://www.headwrap.us

[hd film izle]

One of the biggest problems we seem to see in the UK are children riding Quad Bikes and ATVs on the streets - with no insurance, helmets and some not even old enough to ride.

I think every government should make the suppliers of Quad Bikes, ATVs, Buggies and Mini Moto's make each person sign a declaration that states they know that it is unsafe to ride without the correct safety training and equipment.

Then, we would hear less excuses when they get brought before the courts for breaking the laws and riding these machines. hd film izle

[hdfilmler]

I cannot believe how many people do not follow the helmet laws and get away with it. A head wrap is not a helmet!

[KAAN]

I cannot believe how many people do not follow the helmet laws and get away with it. A head wrap is not a helmet!