Default Is Your Helmet DOT FMVSS No

Default Is Your Helmet DOT FMVSS No. 218 Certified?
According to NHTSA statistics, in 2010, only 54 percent of motorcyclists wore a DOT-approved lid. Around 14 percent wore a novelty helmet, and 32 percent went without a helmet altogether. In 2009, those numbers were 67 percent, 9 percent and 24 percent. In 2010, 75 percent of riders who did elect to wear a helmet wore a DOT-compliant one. In 2009, that number was 86 percent.

FMVSS No. 218 includes energy attenuation, penetration resistance, chin strap structural integrity, and labeling requirements for on-road motorcycle helmets. According to NHTSA research published in 2004, wearing a helmet certified as conforming to FMVSS No. 218 reduces the risk of dying in a motorcycle crash by 37 percent. NHTSA says its tests of novelty helmets found that they failed all or almost all of the safety performance requirements in the standard.
Now, helmets that conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 218 will carry a sticker with the manufacturer's name, the helmet model and the words "DOT FMVSS No. 218 Certified." The move to make helmets safer comes after the number of riders sporting unsafe and novelty brain buckets increased dramatically in 2010 over 2009.