The police department spent about $10,000 on new helmets for its 22 motorcycle officers after falsely believing its old ones had failed government safety tests.
The helmets, the federal government said, were safe. Now the police are standing by the decision. They say that since any question was raised, buying new helmets is safer.
The problem began when an officer found a Website listing helmets that failed NHTSA testing. The site, run by a group opposed to mandatory helmet laws, listed the make of the Pittsburgh PD's helmets as unsafe.
When the helmet was tested with 304 impacts on 38 helmets, one helmet failed. lthe data satisfied the government that the helmet was safe.
