UK helmet - Legal in NZ or not?

[YellowDog]

My Helmet was bought in thre USA and has the DOT sticker:

Helmets complying with FMVSS 218 will be marked with the letters 'DOT'. This standard is only acceptable for motorcycle helmets that have been manufactured and purchased in the USA.

The helmet was manufactured in Italy and purchased in the USA, so I guess this means it is not legal

[cs363]

My Helmet was bought in thre USA and has the DOT sticker:

Helmets complying with FMVSS 218 will be marked with the letters 'DOT'. This standard is only acceptable for motorcycle helmets that have been manufactured and purchased in the USA.

The helmet was manufactured in Italy and purchased in the USA, so I guess this means it is not legal

Yep..you are quite correct! Not that I'd worry about it given the above, it's never going to be an issue until they actually start policing this.
If you were going to worry about anything it would be the fact that helmets manufactured to the DOT standard in some cases may not be as safe as those manufactured to the ECE/BS/AS etc standards. The other thing is if you ever sell the helmet, then technically you are breaking the law as you are knowingly selling an illegal helmet.....but, as I said earlier probably won't be an issue unless they start policing it. More of a conscience thing really I guess.

[FROSTY:Me]

The way I see it if helmets that ar dot aproved are ok for racing they gota be ok for road use

[cs363]

The way I see it if helmets that ar dot aproved are ok for racing they gota be ok for road use

In theory you would be right, where it gets complicated is the way in which the standards are issued, you'll note the disclaimer on the LTSA site:

* Because of the lack of a formal certification system for the US FMVSS 218 standard, this standard only applies to motorcycle helmets that have been manufactured and purchased in the USA.

There is much debate as to which standards are better/worse at present and i really don't want to start yet another debate on that one...
Having been to numerous trade shows in the US and seeing some of the (mainly Chinese/Taiwanese) helmets on offer there that only come with DOT standard (and have not been able to attain ECE etc standards) I would be dubious as to the quality of some of the helmets that are only DOT rated.
Any helmet is better than none I guess, personally i would go for something that is known to perform well in real world crash incidents such as Arai, Shoei etc.

The other thing is when were the MNZ rules last updated regarding helmet standards? And are these rules in place for safety reasons or just to make it easier for overseas riders to compete here etc? You could start several debates out of this thread, lol

My main issue is why do LTSA make these rules regarding importation of helmets, and then fail miserably to enforce said rules except in the case of commercial importers?

Personally I think they should just allow all standards but have safety checks in place as I outlined earlier along with having a rule regarding age & condition of helmets for road use, or at least something along those lines. I just shudder when I see some of the beaten up and obviously unsafe helmets that some people wear. If a helmets is over a certain age and/or has any signs of accident damage it should be illegal - that's if the powers-that-be really care about safety....

[FROSTY:Me]

dude plain and simple. not enough manpower or bikers to worry about it.
Its pretty low priority in the big picture.
MNZ update their rules regularly. so as a new standard is introduced you have (I think) 5 years on the old standard before the lid is too old to use.
Its definitely NOT about international riders its about the fact we are too small a country to have our own standards so we accept a range of overseas accepted standards -I ca dig the rule book out and quote ya the numbers -if I can find it

[cs363]

dude plain and simple. not enough manpower or bikers to worry about it.
Its pretty low priority in the big picture.
MNZ update their rules regularly. so as a new standard is introduced you have (I think) 5 years on the old standard before the lid is too old to use.
Its definitely NOT about international riders its about the fact we are too small a country to have our own standards so we accept a range of overseas accepted standards -I ca dig the rule book out and quote ya the numbers -if I can find it

Sorry, that was a bit tongue in cheek re: MNZ
I accept what you are saying about being a small country/using overseas standards - I just think it's weird that LTSA go to the trouble of making a rule and then not bothering to enforce it (except where it's easy - with importers0
I just can't see the point to it, better to accept all International standards and then have some sort of safety check come WOF time or something don't you think?

[YellowDog]

Yes I do agree with what you are saying however in my case it is a Nolan Helmet manufactured in Italy (from imported components) and badged according to the end user market. They only have the one production line (per helmet type) so it is the same helmet wherever it has been sold.

[cs363]

Yes I do agree with what you are saying however in my case it is a Nolan Helmet manufactured in Italy (from imported components) and badged according to the end user market. They only have the one production line so it is the same helmet wherever it has been sold.

Yeah, I was going to mention that in my earlier post as I was guessing that being an Italian helmet it would be up to spec as most of the Italian manufacturers only make one shell for each model as you have pointed out so in that instance it's just a different sticker.
Some manufacturers like Arai make specific helmet shells/liners for specific standards such as DOT or JIS.
It still comes back to that bloody stupid rule of LTSA's.....

[portokiwi]

And why dont the change the rules????

[cs363]

And why dont the change the rules????

Four letters... L T S A

[Scruffygit]

My contaner arrives next week.......


Ohhh the excitement knowing my toys are comming

You lucky, lucky bast@rd.

I was quoted 6-12 weeks shipping. As I've just got a rental place and the6 weeks are up next Tuesday I thought I would let the shippers know the delivery address. Their reply:

"I will let the destination agent know and you effects are due to be loaded onto a shared container in the next couple of weeks."



I'll be lucky to see them by the end of November.

[portokiwi]

We could be using the same container

[FROSTY:Me]

Sorry, that was a bit tongue in cheek re: MNZ
I accept what you are saying about being a small country/using overseas standards - I just think it's weird that LTSA go to the trouble of making a rule and then not bothering to enforce it (except where it's easy - with importers0
I just can't see the point to it, better to accept all International standards and then have some sort of safety check come WOF time or something don't you think?

Theres a heap of rules that have ben introduced.Lots of them are basicly unenforcable.
I've always thought ya should scrap most of the rules and just have one rule in NZ--use common sense --

[cs363]

Theres a heap of rules that have ben introduced.Lots of them are basicly unenforcable.
I've always thought ya should scrap most of the rules and just have one rule in NZ--use common sense --

Looks like we're back to post #25 then.... lol