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is this true???
boggle - 8/4/10 at 02:37 PM

just been told by a chap in the office that you cannot wear a crash helmet in any type of car????


eddie99 - 8/4/10 at 02:39 PM

Bollocks!


cd.thomson - 8/4/10 at 02:39 PM

how does he know this?

I'm imagining Gareth from the office


tegwin - 8/4/10 at 02:39 PM

..... does he also believe that his metro has a 6 litre V8?


balidey - 8/4/10 at 02:39 PM

Thats going to make the next F1 race veeerryy interesting


omega0684 - 8/4/10 at 02:40 PM

what a c*ck!


cheapracer - 8/4/10 at 02:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by balidey
Thats going to make the next F1 race veeerryy interesting


One would have to think that the OP was refering to road driven cars.


carpmart - 8/4/10 at 02:47 PM

Did you happen to ask him why he believed this or where he got this information from????


boggle - 8/4/10 at 03:01 PM

conversation was about my car having no screen so for distance runs i would wear a crash helmet...

he said it was illeagel to wear one in a car as you cannot see around you properly....i said that cant be right.....

he dissagrees...


flak monkey - 8/4/10 at 03:04 PM

I believe its illegal to wear one in a tintop on the road, but not in an open topped car.

I have seen plenty of traffic cops and none have ever stopped me for wearing a helmet in the car.


eddie99 - 8/4/10 at 03:05 PM

Yeah i think David is right. In an enclosed vehicle, i think its illegal. But not in a car without a screen for sure.


dhutch - 8/4/10 at 03:06 PM

What are you mirrors for....

Unless you have a hans on you can still do over-shoulder checks anyway!


rallyingden - 8/4/10 at 03:09 PM

I think you will find he is right, thats why on Rallies, drivers have to remove helmets and use headsets.

But I dont think any cop would bother you in an open top car, tin top would be different though.

RD.


nick205 - 8/4/10 at 03:11 PM

I've passed plenty of traffic police, parked outside a cop-shop and had a chat with one at a filling station whilst wearing a helmet in my old Indy. No mention of legality whatsoever.

I think I've said on here before - I would not drive an open car with no screen without wearing a full face helmet.

[Edited on 8/4/10 by nick205]


TimEllershaw - 8/4/10 at 03:14 PM

A colleague of mine is very hot on these things (Mr Pedantic) and is also a former rally driver. He maintains that it is illegal.

However, when we consulted a expert policemen (who we consult about other work related stuff) he explained that there is not specific law against it, but you can be done for "not being in complete control of the vehicle" if the helmet restricts your vision or movement.


r1_pete - 8/4/10 at 03:48 PM

quote:
Originally posted by TimEllershaw
A colleague of mine is very hot on these things (Mr Pedantic) and is also a former rally driver. He maintains that it is illegal.

However, when we consulted a expert policemen (who we consult about other work related stuff) he explained that there is not specific law against it, but you can be done for "not being in complete control of the vehicle" if the helmet restricts your vision or movement.


So taking that a step further, if your not in control of a car in a helmet, how can you be in control of a much more unstable vehicle like a motorcycle whilst wearing a helmet.

Maybe he's right, but its another example of how our road laws are an arse.....


locostbuyer83 - 8/4/10 at 04:17 PM

dont tell the stig that, he'll be out of a job


locostbuyer83 - 8/4/10 at 04:19 PM

and who would wear a helmet while driving something like a 1.6 focus driving through town anyway, you'd look retarded


r1_pete - 8/4/10 at 04:34 PM

quote:
Originally posted by locostbuyer83
and who would wear a helmet while driving something like a 1.6 focus driving through town anyway, you'd look retarded


With some of the driving standards you see now, I think many drivers are.....


morcus - 8/4/10 at 04:52 PM

I don't see how that could be true. You can be done for driving in something that obstructs your vision (Like sun Glasses at night) but I don't see how an outright ban on driving in a helmet could be legal.

What if you have to wear a helmet for some reason?

I though rally drivers took of their helmets on public roads because they don't need them there, not because they have to.

I think if you drove around in a normal car, like the 1.6 focus example, in a helmet you'd probably get stopped because the police would be concerned you might be up to no good, but I doubt they'd prosecute you.


zilspeed - 8/4/10 at 04:56 PM

I first did it around maybe 1995 or thereabouts. Use to use the car all of the time and always wore a lid.
Have never ever been stopped.

Thankfully, it remains something that a policeman has to make a judgement on rather than being automatically picked up by a camera or other electronic device.
None of the policemen I have passed have made issue.


bi22le - 8/4/10 at 05:33 PM

In theory he may be right. There are certain grey laws that they have invented. These laws can basically be applied to anything that a policeman dont like the look at.
Driving without due care and attention and driving with lack or willing control are two of them.
The reason they add law specifics ie for talking on the phone is to make a point of it so they can announce it. People were getting done while on phones before the specific law came in.
Its not illegal to eat while driving but it is illegal to drive without paying proper attention.


edspurrier - 8/4/10 at 06:12 PM

My old man, many years ago, was driving a Healey through London - down Oxford St - in the rain when it developed an exhaust leak in to the cockpit He couldn't breathe; couldn't put the roof down -
so he put his flying helmet and oxygen mask on and dangled the hose out of the window.
Nobody arrested him, I imagine he got some funny looks though.


JoelP - 8/4/10 at 06:55 PM

quote:
Originally posted by edspurrier
My old man, many years ago, was driving a Healey through London - down Oxford St - in the rain when it developed an exhaust leak in to the cockpit He couldn't breathe; couldn't put the roof down -
so he put his flying helmet and oxygen mask on and dangled the hose out of the window.
Nobody arrested him, I imagine he got some funny looks though.


i suspect you'd end up like Jean Charles if you did that nowadays!


LBMEFM - 8/4/10 at 07:16 PM

If a helmet restricts vision then watch out for bikers they may not see you.


Brommers - 9/4/10 at 03:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by boggle
just been told by a chap in the office that you cannot wear a crash helmet in any type of car????


Not true. There is no law against wearing a helmet in a car. I spoke to a Met Police traffic cop about this a while back, and he confirmed that this was the case whether it's an open top car or not. In fact, he went so far to welcome anyone wearing a crash helmet in a car, as he was fed up with picking bits of skull and brains off the floors of crashed vehicles...