Police crackdown on unsafe helmets

[tigertim20]

sounds like a reasonable initiative if its really about safety and education. but i suppose theyll still do all the other checks - licence rego etc etc anyway . . .

what guidelines are these popo using to deteine between a good helmet and a shit one though? surely half the fore have never had to wear one so what the fuck would they know?

the comment All helmets have to comply to New Zealand safety standards but just because they have safety sticker doesn't mean they are safe says it all really. if thats the case, then wouldnt they be better off making legislative changes to the minimum standards of helmet that can legally be sold in NZ in the first place?

[Moise]

Nice idea but ... What does the average cop know about helmets? How will they know if it's unsafe?

In reality, its probably just another excuse to harass gang members.

[Mike.Gayner]

Good thing all the real crime has been resolved so they can put all their effort on this stuff.

[Racing Dave]

People should have the choice to wear helmets or not, aint gonna hurt you if they don't...

You do have a choice, no-one can make you wear a helmet. Just be prepared to suck up the consequences - either financially when you get a ticket, or physically when you bang your silly head on the ground.

[Berries]

There are so many serious crashes where people don't even have a helmet on, a quick blat around the campsite on a mates MX bike or trip around the block after a couple of beers on a nice summers evening. You won't catch those people until they smack their head against a tree or a kerb and then Darwin takes over.

I see plenty of riders with WW2 style helmets. Some might be motorbike helmets although I suspect most are actually WW2 helmets and will offer fuck all protection when you bounce down the road. If you have any kind of full face helmet on I am guessing you will be left alone, just look at the photo on the link.

Luckily after the 20th of next month I can get my pith helmet on again for the summer according to the report.

[Waihou Thumper]

What are your rights to have the helmet inspected, handled and potentially dropped thus making it no longer fit for purpose?
Can I refuse? Just say " by the way, do you know what EN, ANSI standards or otherwise this meets?"
What do you look for Mr Plod?
Huh? ........I spend time and money to ensure my PPE is safe to use, is fit for purpose and will not hurt me if worn correctly. What do you know? really?....
Just a thought...

[Gremlin]

I think you need to look at the entire range of helmets. Most of us don't wear scratched up tin hats. It sounds like that's what they're after.

If you present with a non-scratched full face / flip face etc, I doubt there will be an issue.

If they dropped my helmet, well, they can pay the replacement cost, cost to transport bike home etc... Yes, the average cop may not know much about helmets, but there are plenty of officers that ride in their own time, without being motorcycle cops.

[rambaldi]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/7391...at-roundabouts

Fucking Mike Noon, you are the fucking AA. If you reckon your members and drivers aren't educated about the road rules pull your thumb out of your arse and do something about it. You have magazines and a bunch of other means at your disposal to educate people, don't bitch and moan that not enough is being done.

[RDJ]

For Fuchs sake. The revenue argument is so fucking naff. If it was about revenue the quickest way to make the dosh is to stake out a junction and tag anyone who doesn't indicate.

I don't believe that assumption is correct. That would only work in the very short term. And even the AA, who are notoriously motorcycle-unfriendly, are "pleading with" (their words) the police to "target high risk activities not the safer motorways" (where people go faster). Last year, 80,000+speeding tickets were issued every month compared to 55,000 per month five years earlier. That increase was despite police(spokespeople) saying that average speeds have fallen. If you reward behaviour you get more of it. If you punish behaviour you get less of it. Punishing people for driving slower seems assbackwards.

[Grubber]

A mate of mine crashed into the front of a car after slipping in some diesel one day. Badly injured he was. When the Police turned up (not Tansport guys) they told him to hide the helmet in the ambulance so the transport guys didn't see it.
It had scratches over it but was intact. He painted it and carried on wearing it again. It was not an approved helmet by the way, hence why he was told to hide it.
He rode with it again even though a couple of us said chuck it and get a decent one. But no, he reckons it was his favourite one.
Guess what, he got snotted by another car some 5 months later and hit his head real bad, helmet disintergrated and he suffered some major trauma to the head.
5 years later he still cant ride and cant remember something that happened yesterday.

Give me a good helmet anyday.

[RDJ]

A mate of mine crashed into the front of a car after slipping in some diesel one day. Badly injured he was. When the Police turned up (not Tansport guys) they told him to hide the helmet in the ambulance so the transport guys didn't see it.
It had scratches over it but was intact. He painted it and carried on wearing it again. It was not an approved helmet by the way, hence why he was told to hide it.
He rode with it again even though a couple of us said chuck it and get a decent one. But no, he reckons it was his favourite one.
Guess what, he got snotted by another car some 5 months later and hit his head real bad, helmet disintergrated and he suffered some major trauma to the head.
5 years later he still cant ride and cant remember something that happened yesterday.

Give me a good helmet anyday.

Yep on the spectrum of minimum protection a helmet comes very high indeed. Much else will heal, or stabilize with time, or can be grafted, or can be artifically replaced, but not the brain. And it doesn't take much at all - remember Indian Larry. In, uh, 38 years (sheesh, had to stop and do the math for a minute there) I've yet to treat a surviving (fullface) helmet wearer whose primary problem was a broken skull or a closed head injury.

[Paulo]

People should have the choice to wear helmets or not, aint gonna hurt you if they don't...
also why would you think the avg popo would know shit all to anything about helmets??? Sure they can look for stickers but past that I wouldn't trust them to hold my helmet let alone know if it was safe; so really once they see a label like Shoei, Arai, HJC, etc etc they should just wave through... you know if this were really bout helmet safety

yeah Nah , I'm not so keen on my taxes paying to keep some brain damaged idiot in care for the rest of his spoon fed life because he was too cool to wear a helmet. Given the junk helmets sold on TM I think a little educations a good thing.

[haydes55]

http://i.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/n...torcycle-crash

He died looking so cool.

[Scuba_Steve]

yeah Nah , I'm not so keen on my taxes paying to keep some brain damaged idiot in care for the rest of his spoon fed life because he was too cool to wear a helmet. Given the junk helmets sold on TM I think a little educations a good thing.

Your taxes are doing that now BECAUSE of helmets; making them optional would potentially see less brain damaged cabbages... cause they'd be dead.
Remember safety devices save people (just not always in good condition)

[F5 Dave]

Complete loser morons aside, ie scuba steve.
Perhaps they should prosecute fools with those come apart 2 piece numbers that ride along with them open so as to make breaking their neck that more likely.

am I my brothers keeper? When he's too stupid to know better, then yes, sadly yes I am.