The Helmet Update
Volume 29, #2, March 11, 2011
All issues index
CPSC consumer complaints database is live
Today the Consumer Product Safety Commission opened its product safety complaint database for consumer input. You can
post problems you have encountered with products by brand, including bicycle helmets.
The
portal is here.
If you think your helmet failed, fell apart or had a readily identifiable defect, you can post that on the site, and it
is supposed to appear in the database.
CPSC will process your request, and consult with the manufacturer before posting it. That could mean your post will be
edited or even not put up, and you will have to resort to a blog somewhere instead. But you can still search the database
to find out if others have had the same experience--assuming their posts were not zapped. New reports are not seen
publicly until they have been reviewed by CPSC staff and the manufacturer of the product. So today there are no reports
to be seen, but there is a full list of recalled helmets.
Congress included the requirement for the database in the 2008 CPSIA act. But some members of the current Congress are
attempting to cut it out of the CPSC budget. Organizations representing manufacturers have opposed it, and are concerned
that false postings could be injurious. Manufacturers can register to receive copies of complaints posted about their
products.
We have
a page up with more detail.
The Helmet Update - Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
Randy Swart, Editor
4611 Seventh Street South
Arlington, VA 22204-1419 USA
(703) 486-0100 (voice)
(703) 486-0576 (fax)
www.helmets.org