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Mark Hinchliffe·
Tips/trainingTips on laws
··18 Comments·2 min read

Rider challenges helmet sticker fine

Rider challenges helmet sticker fine withdrawn

A Victorian rider is challenging a fine for not having an external compliance sticker on his Australian-approved motorcycle helmet as he claims the internal certificate label makes it compliant.

Alasdair “Ted” Cameron says he was pulled over in April 2018 on his 2016 Harley-Davidson Dyna Low Rider S about 200m from his home in Geelong by one of two police officers patrolling on dirt bikes.

“I hadn’t done anything wrong, so I asked, ‘what’s up?’.


“The cop says ‘you’re riding a motorcycle in Victoria’, so I knew this guy was not up for a chat!”

The officer then told him his helmet was not compliant because it did not have a sticker on the outside.

“I just agreed with him and didn’t enter into much conversation or argue with him,” Ted says, even though he showed the internal compliance label to the officer.

While Ted politely accepted the ticket without argument, he has now taken the matter to Maurice Blackburn Lawyers and wants his day in court.

Sticker advice

Helmet laws sticker
Australian Standard sticker

Motorcycle Council of NSW helmet law expert Guy Stanford says riders do not have to leave the sticker on the outside of the helmet so long as an internal sticker or label is present, even if it has faded with wear.

Read the full details of helmet legality here.  

Ted’s lawyer, Katie Minogue, says that the matter has now been referred to the Magistrates’ Court as she is confident that the $371 fine will be overturned by the court.

“We have a strong enough case,” she says. “We would not be afraid to take it to a hearing.

“The Victorian Road Rules state that an approved helmet must be marked with the official standards mark – it does not specify where this mark needs to be.

Rider challenges helmet sticker fine
Ted

“The police appear to be maintaining that Ted’s helmet was not compliant because the mark was not on the outside and therefore not compliant.

“The correct standard was on the lining of Ted’s helmet.

 “We say there is no obligation in the rules that the sticker needs to be on the outside of a helmet.”

Motorbike Writer will continue to follow this case and report back to readers so stay tuned.

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18 Comments

  1. I have a grey import AGV with a British sticker of some sort. Haven’t faced that level of scrutiny in NSW. Cops like Harleys.

  3. The Australian standards are an out dated dinosaur for safety compliance it was thrown out and replaced by the European standard after the world health organisation released it report on rotational impact. Meaning the wiegh of a helmet is one of the key factors of safety. Low and behold the Australian safety standard was ADDING wiegh to helmets with its over the top and outdated testing process.

  5. Well done Ted
    Sad that it needs a lone wolf to stand up and bring these issues forward for the rest of we lucky biking community
    Let’s hope this brings about changes
    Let’s move forward Australia
    Stop being Dinosaurs and lead the world

  7. Surely if the helmet is compliant, a sticker wouldn’t make it more so. Does the lid comply or not ?

  8. Good on you Ted I hope you day in court goes your way. As long as your helmet has ECE 22.5 and/or an Australian/NZ standard sticker and/or label on it. You would think that those sworn in badge wearing, gun toting law enforcer’s would be better clued in wouldn’t you. Just as well you didn’t argue the point with said same on the day, he sounds like one of those “I don’t listen to you….I am a Policeman” type clown.

    1. I have the actual helmet labeling law bookmarked on my phone browser so if a cop wants to argue with me I just show him that. He’ll look like a complete idiot when I go to court and also tell them that I shown him the helmet labeling law and he still wrote a ticket.

  9. What the hell does it even matter, for God sake your at least wearing a helmet and it’s your bloody noggin.

    Next they’ll be fining us for wearing a vest and tshirt. Bloody revenue grab is all it is.

  10. I checked in with a retailer when I couldn’t find a label on my new helmet – turns out it was sewn into the chin strap join and contained very little identifiable information – and no CE logo. It was a Shoei helmet. I’m not convinced a cop would believe it was the legit marking …

    That aside, it’s good to see this being challenged. Sad that it has to be. Re comment by Devo – well said!

    1. Go into a motorbike shop like Peter Stevens now, and have a look at their helmets. You will hardly see any that have that sticker on the outside. If the helmet is ece approved which is the European standard and has been legal in Australia for years now……it almost definitely will not have a sticker on the outside. The tag is on the chinstrap inside the helmet and consists of a small fabric tag sewn to the chinstrap and marked only with an “E” and a number. “3” for example is Italy, which is where my helmet was made. Each country in Europe will have a different number. They are all legal in Australia. There is also some other numbers in fine print on the tag which denote the style of helmet….full face, open face…..with visor, without visor, etc, etc.

  11. This sounds like the policy to ‘harass and disrupt’ suspected bikies in action, a policy, which I argue, is in breach of the UN Rule of Law: “The Secretary-General has described the rule of law as “a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards. It requires, as well, measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness and procedural and legal transparency.” (Report of the Secretary-General: The rule of law and transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict societies (S/2004/616).”

    Having said that though, this story prompted me to check my helmet. The label clearly states: “Do Not Remove”. Hopefully this matter will come before a sensible and fair Magistrate who, after examining the said helmet, will note the inner compliance label. ‘Free’ our biker brother and caution the over zealous police for nit-picking and wasting everyone’s time and money. There are far worse criminals sitting in parliaments around Australia.

  12. from the MRAQ website
    ” under Section 5 of the Qld Road Rules, if the regulation requires a person to use something that complies with an Australian standard, then the person complies with the requirement if, when the item was manufactured, it complied with the standard in force under the designation at the time. This means that, for a motorcycle helmet complying with AS 1698 or AS/NZ 1698 or ECE 22.05 a person complies with the legislative requirement to wear an approved helmet if the helmet complied with the standard in force when it was manufactured.”

  13. It appears the “authorities” were in a hunt for off roads bike riders and didn’t catch their “quota” .
    And there he come a big bike rider with a leather jacket and facial hair, that fits their profile of “someone to check for” .
    The lack of a sticker not necessarily means the helmet was not compliant to the rules and regulations.
    Any lawyer worth their salt, would successfully argue that the sticker “only confirms” that the helmet is up to rules.
    And the firm you engage will surely fix that up for you.

  14. I have the actual helmet labeling law bookmarked on my phone browser so if a cop wants to argue with me I just show him that. He’ll look like a complete idiot when I go to court and also tell them that I shown him the helmet labeling law and he still wrote a ticket.

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