DOT FMVSS218 - Novelty Helmet Not Safe?

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcycle riders who do not wear helmets are 40 percent more likely to incur fatal head injuries than riders who do.

From 1984 through 1990, helmets saved the lives of more than 4,740 motorcyclists. To help protect the lives of motorcycle riders, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that all motorcycle helmets sold in the United States meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 218.

Each year, DOT conducts compliance testing of a variety of motorcycle helmets to determine whether helmets being sold in the U.S. meet the federal safety standard. Because helmets add such a critical margin of safety for motorcycle riders, many states now have laws requiring the use of helmets that meet FMVSS 218 requirements.

Increasingly though, motorcycle riders are violating these state laws by wearing cheap and unsafe helmets that do not meet FMVSS 218. Most of these helmets are sold as novelty items by unscrupulous merchants to circumvent the FMVSS 218 requirements.

In some cases, people purchase these helmets in the mistaken belief that they offer protection. However, many people who wear these novelty helmets know that they are unsafe, but still wear them anyway. They are not enough to protect riders, because many DOT novelty helmets do not cover head enough or protect ear and side area well. Therefore, in other countries, all DOT helmets must cover ear parts.