BIKERS OF LESSER TOLERANCE

B.O.L.T.

Helmet Complaints

Complain to the NHTSA about your Motorcycle Helmet

As of October 31, 2007, there are only 20 complaints about motorcycle helmets on file at the NHTSA. Let’s get 10 times as many official complaints filed by the end of the year 2007, then get 100 times as many in 2008.

If hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of bikers across the country hate their motorcycle helmets, and hate being forced to wear helmets, they’ve done a very remarkable job of keeping all complaints to themselves.

This must be very encouraging to the government and all the safety nazi agencies involved. They are getting the wrong message. “Isn’t it lovely how compliant they are! They certainly must love being forced to wear helmets!”

Many more people would complain if they thought the government would listen. Perhaps people do not know that the government must listen to your complaints, and in some cases, they act on your complaints.

How to Complain about Helmets.

It’s very simple to complain about your helmet. The reason for your complaint is completely up to you.

Don’t wait until it’s too late! Obviously, you should not wait for it to kill you before you complain. Some of the complaints that are currently on file were filed by the next of kin. You should not wait until the weight of the helmet breaks your neck in a crash. You should not wait until the helmet strap cuts into your common carotid artery causing you to suffer a debilitating stroke. There is a complaint like that on file, and it had to be filed by attorneys and doctors.

What will NHTSA do with my complaint?

Your complaint information will be entered into NHTSA's vehicle owner's complaint database and used with other complaints to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.

• If a safety-related defect exists in a motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment, the manufacturer must fix it at no cost to the owner. Your complaint is the first step in the process.
• Government engineers analyze the problem. If warranted, the manufacturer is asked to conduct a recall. If the manufacturer does not initiate a recall, the government can order the manufacturer to initiate a recall.
• We do not have to receive a specific number of complaints before we look into a problem. We gather all available information on a problem. Your complaint is important to us.

Reasons for Your Complaint:

There is no invalid reason for a complaint. If your helmet makes you claustrophobic, that’s a good one. If it reduces your peripheral vision, causes neck strain, os is too hot in the summertime, or your helmet is too heavy....they are all good reasons to complain. There’s a complaint on file that a Hummer does not have a headrest in order to help soldiers deal with the weight of helmets, and their helmet is as only as heavy as some full-face helmets. If you simply want to complain that mandatory helmet laws are a violation of your civil liberties, I do not think the NHTSA can tell you not to complain about it, so go ahead and complain! 

Should complaints be filed for injuries and deaths only? NO! A complaint can be about anything.
Can I complain on behalf of someone else? YES!
It helps if you can find out the exact make and model of the helmet.

Sample Complaint:

As required by North Carolina mandatory helmet statute GS 20-140.4, I wore a Fulmer Trooper Helmet on a trip that is just 78 miles away. The total trip was 160 miles, and should have taken me less than 3 hours. Due to extreme neck strain caused by the weight of the helmet and very poor aerodynamics, I ended up having to stop twice in each direction for 20 minutes at each stop. The neck strain was only temporarily relieved by the stops. This added 80 minutes to my trip. Add to that, a bee got trapped in between my temple and the strap, and stung my temple. It hurt like the dickens, and it is a good thing I am not allergic. I do not recommend using a Fulmer Trooper Helmet when the motorcycle is not equipped with a windshield. I also recommend nobody should ever be forced to choose between wearing such a torturous device and being subjected to law enforcement actions.

After filing the above complaint, it was assigned an ODI Number:
Your Confirmation number (ODI Number) is: 10206145

To Check on the Status of your Complaint:
After a while, you can go back to the same page where you began filing the complaint, http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/complaints/ and, instead of clicking on File a Complaint you can click on Search, then type in the ODI Number.

Complain to the NHTSA about your helmet NOW!

What You Should Have Handy

You should have your piece of crap motorcycle helmet handy. If you have not torn out the labels, you should jot down the Make and Model number and year of production.

Difficulties Using the ODI Complaint System

This is the government. They spent lots of tax money to develop the system, but there are problems with it. In the Sample Complaint above, the motorcycle helmet make is Fulmer and the helmet says Trooper on it. The ODI system does not have all helmets listed, and does not allow you to type in a model that is not listed. In this case, when the complaint was made, there were a few different model options. Pick the best one. You will be able to explain this later, in the description portion of the complaint.

What if the Helmet Make is Not Listed, or is Unknown?

In some cases, the helmet make is unknown or it is unknown to the NHTSA. What you want to do is file an Equipment Complaint, and then when it asks you to chose the Make and you cannot find the make of the helmet listed, you can click on unknown. Then, you can choose Equipment - Motorcycle Helmets.

Who to complain to at the NHTSA about the system: webmaster@nhtsa.dot.gov.
You can also call to complain about your helmets by calling the Vehicle Safety Hotline toll free at 1-888-327-4236.

Silence is Approval

Let the NHTSA know that you do not like your motorcycle helmet and resent being forced to wear one.

Spread the Word!
We need others to complain or else nothing will ever get done!

Here’s an email that you can send to all your friends and ask that they contact 5 of their friends, or your entire motorcycle club or organization. Go ahead and copy and paste this into an email, and distribute it widely to all motorcyclists. Tell your friends to tell all their friends.

Hey Bikers!

Please pass this message on to everyone you know who rides a motorcycle, and ask them to pass it along to at least 5 more bikers. We need to spread the word to every motorcyclist in the country.

For years, we have been complaining about motorcycle helmets and about mandatory helmet laws, and for years, the government has not listened. They continue to force helmets onto our heads whether we like it or not.

It is time to COMPLAIN LOUDLY and OFTEN. Here’s how:

The government has a computer system where we should all be filing our complaints. It is relatively unused. After several years, there are only about 20 complaints on file.

Let’s change that. Let’s let the government know every complaint we have about helmets. Let’s let them know how we do not like to be forced to wear helmets. We must complain loudly and often, or else they will think we are complacent.

Please file a complaint about your helmet now.

If you are fed up with helmets and mandatory helmet laws, and are ready to file a complaint right now, visit the NHTSA ODI Complaint Site at

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov
 

Visit Bikers of Lesser Tolerance (B.O.L.T.) for more information at http://boltusa.org

This action is inspired by freedom fighters everywhere, such as Richard “Quig” Quigley, who used to call and complain to the NHTSA almost every day, even after his living wake, and right up until the day he died of lymphoma in 2007. Other freedom fighters, not just from B.O.L.T. but everywhere, frequently call the NHTSA and their state legislators to complain also. Let’s spread the word to start filing official complaints.

Please help fight for our rights. Civil liberties are important!

Thank you!

Please be sure to pass this message along to everyone you know who rides motorcycles!

Spreadsheet as of 10/31/07. There are only 20 complaints on file, since 1995. Some of these are complaints about vehicles but helmets are part of the complaint and are interesting. You should be able to open this with Excel. Once you do, Column B is the ODI Number. Column Q is the date the complaint was received by the ODI. Column T is a brief description. Some of these complaints have documents attached such as ODI No 10193212, about the D-ring of a helmet alleged to have caused a debilitating stroke. For complete information, Go to  http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/complaints/ then click on Search, then put in the ODI Number.

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