Safety first?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/04/2012 (5298 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Cyclists of Manitoba take heed: your provincial government is considering the creation of a mandatory helmet law.

As the CBC reported, Health Living Minister Jim Rondeau told media last week that his government was “seriously considering” legislation that would improve helmet usage in the province.

Such legislation could be implemented shortly, he said, bringing Manitoba in line with several other provinces that have similar laws.

Currently, Manitoba remains one of the few provinces that allow people to ride bikes without a helmet, although the provincial website does encourage helmet use.

Provinces like Nova Scotia and B.C. require both children and adults to wear helmets, while Ontario and Alberta only require protection for people under the age of 18.

Several doctor and health-related organizations have long sung the praises of helmet use. Not long ago, the Sport Medicine and Science Council of Manitoba estimated that about 7,500 cyclists are seriously injured in Canada each year, and head injuries account for 80 per cent of all deaths from bike injuries.

The CBC story mentioned Doctors Manitoba, the provincial medical association, which told government that bike helmet laws reduce the number of head injuries that require hospitalization by as much as 45 per cent.

Rondeau would not reveal details of his plan, such as what activities other than cycling would be covered by the legislation, whether adults would be included, or if there would be a fine or penalty implemented — though he did say the aim of any new helmet law would not be punitive.

“We don’t want to have police chasing kids to give them a ticket. What we’re trying to do is look at innovative approaches,” Rondeau said.

No doubt there will be more than a few die-hards who will bluster about Manitoba’s “nanny-state” policies concocted to tell people how to live their lives. Internet comment boards were already full of such scathing critiques. Essentially, this is the seatbelt debate all over again.

However, unlike motor vehicles, there are no licence or vehicle registration requirements for bicycles. Therefore, cycling falls somewhat outside the seat belt and “driving is a privilege” debate.

In previous editorials we have called on the province to enact such legislation to at least help protect the craniums of Manitoba youth. But offering blanket, unqualified support for the enactment of such legislation would be pointless without first taking note of provincial statistics.

According to the Manitoba Public Insurance website:

• Over the last five years, each year there have been two fatalities and more than 200 injuries involving cyclists;

• Nearly 45 per cent of collisions that involve bicycles and motor vehicles occur at intersections;

• Right and left turns comprise nearly 25 per cent of total cycling injury claims;

• More than 20 per cent of cycling injury claims involve cyclists riding on sidewalks and coming off those sidewalks at intersections;

• Cyclists 15-19 years old are the most likely to be killed or injured;

• More than 75 per cent of cyclists killed or injured in a collision with a motor vehicle were not wearing a helmet at the time;

• And collisions with vehicles occur most often during heavy traffic times of the day, with 30 per cent during after rush hours, and 70 per cent between Monday and Thursday.

Based on the above information, it would make a great deal of sense for local municipal governments to start strictly enforcing existing laws that bar cyclists from riding on sidewalks. Such enforcement would work in tandem with a provincial law that would make it mandatory for those under 18 to wear a helmet.

Such a law would encourage youth to create a habit of helmet use before they become adults and would leave adults the choice of either wearing a helmet or not.

If they’re willing to risk traumatic brain injury, perhaps adults should be allowed to let Darwinian theory play itself out.