why are motorcycle helmetns all fiber glass?
thats exactly what YOU should wear
Are you allowed to wear a steel helment when riding a motorcycle on the road?
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If your state has a helmet law you’ll need to put a dot sticker on it. Then it’s legal.
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The helmet must be DOT certified in the US. Only helmets that absorb the impact of a crash can be certified. Metal is not flexible enough to absorb impact and is just transfering the shock to your head, and therefore is no where near as safe as the ABS plastic or fiberglass helmets.
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Composites (what you call "fiberglass") absorb energy. Steel does not, and it won’t help you much. You need a DOT approved helmet to ride on the road.
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in the United States, in the states where a helmet law is mandatory, the helmet must be a DOT approved helmet.
all helmets are not made of fiber glass!!! there are alot of the cheaper helmets on the market that are plastic and alot of the more expensive helmets are carbon fiber (higher end than basic fiber glass).
the reason the plastic ones are typically cheaper, they are made in a mold using different types of injection which is much faster and repeatable… over having to do the lay ups involved with fiber & carbon fiber glass based…
the helmet is designed to absorb the impact of a crash both thru the shell (plastic or fiber / carbon glass) and the foam lining (most looks like densely compressed styrofoam)…
steel doesn’t flex much or absorb well, so a much thicker foam lining would be needed to meet all the absorbtion requirements within the DOT testing…
so, if your steel helmet is DOT approved, yes you can legally wear it in states with a helmet law (not sure why you would wear a steel helmet though)…
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Steel is impractical because it will not break away in serve impact, it will crush and within is your head. As will steel toed boots, they work well it most cases of accidentally dropping something on the foot and yes I believe in them but believe me once the force surpasses the strength the protective toe can with stand you’ll wish you had just got your toes cut off by time they get the crushed steel safety toe piece cut off them and you would likely loose your toes anyway in an extreme case such as that.
As to why fiber glass…it will crack yet is resistant to complete seperation so it absorbs the impact yet continues to protect you from abrasion while you’re still sliding down the highway.
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I lost a bike at 85 MPH on Florida Turnpike so I speak from first hand experiance.
Applying a DOT sticker on a helmet does not make it legal. Officers are not stupid, they can distinguish the difference.
If the state you reside in has a helmet law, then you are required to wear a helmet which meets the DOT rating. If a steel helmet meets that rating, then it’s legal. If it does not, then it’s obviously not legal. Applying a DOT sticker is assuming the risk.
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and actually the helmets are designed to prevent rattling the brain inside the skull as much as protecting from broken bones including neck…
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thats exactly what YOU should wear
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