How many times a week do we see people riding bicycles — individuals, families and even youngsters riding alone or as a group — without helmets, and wonder, “Gee, doesn’t British Columbia law mandate bike helmets for everyone?”
The answer, of course, is yes. B.C.’s all-ages bike helmet law was enacted as an amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act in 1996. Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia also mandate helmet use by all; Ontario, New Brunswick and Alberta have laws mandating them for cyclists 16- or 18-and-under. A Manitoba legislator last week called on his province to something similar. Various cities in provinces without all-ages helmet laws have their own laws mandating their use by everyone who rides on a road or paved bike path.
In B.C., surveys showed that the percentage of people using helmets increased significantly after the law — the first all-ages provincial helmet law in Canada — was enacted. A 2000 study by University of North Carolina safety researchers showed that helmet use among road bikers in B.C. increased from 54 per cent in 1995, the year before the law was enacted, to 76 per cent by 1999, three years after it came into effect.
To us, the benefits of consistent helmet use by bicyclists is almost self-evident. For example, the UNC study showed the number of serious head injuries among cyclists fell significantly in B.C. in the late 1990s as a result of increased use.
However, in our own research for this editorial, we couldn’t find more recent data on the percentage of helmet use by cyclists in B.C. than what was provided in the UNC study. We think there’s good reason to be concerned that it has fallen — partly, we would guess, because of the number of people who simply don’t know about the law. Perhaps it’s time for a bit of re-education — both through a direct public awareness campaign and through a period of increased enforcement.
In B.C., the maximum fine for failing to wear a safety helmet certified by the Canadian Standards Association is $100, and parents can be fined if they knowingly permit under the age of 16 to ride without one. There are exemptions for those who do not comply because of any sort of religious headdress or medical condition that make wearing one impossible. But those don’t apply to most British Columbians.
We’ve long believed strongly that a law that’s not enforced isn’t worth having, and that public respect for the law in general decreases when laws that are on the books aren’t enforced.
Therefore, we think it’s time for a bit of a one-two punch, say, next spring and summer. In May 2010, for example, stage a public awareness campaign including print, TV and radio ads about the reasons behind a new push for people to wear helmets while cycling. In June, start handing out warning tickets to those who aren’t wearing them. In July, start handing out fines.
Too much like Big Brother? Too bad. It’s the law, it saves lives, and failing to enforce it only reinforces the creeping public perception that this particular law isn’t worthy of their respect and compliance.
