NewsNews
Students skeptical of Toronto bike law
September 17, 2009
Heated debate on mandating the use of bike helmets could soon come to London.
Michael Walker, a Toronto councillor, has proposed bike riders over the age of 18 should be required by law to wear helmets. Toronto city council is currently studying the proposal, which Walker recommends be implemented province-wide.
His justifications for the proposal were based on safety and equality.
“This is for [the bikers’] own safety […] It will also raise their profile and give them equal share of the road,” Walker explained.
While Jim Crosscombe, executive director of the Ontario Cycling Association, supported the current legislation regarding bike helmets, he did not believe this issue was quite so easy to resolve.
“This is way more complicated than a simple answer. In our organization helmets are mandatory,” Crosscombe said. However, he also mentioned a helmet will not save every cyclist who gets into an accident.
While some students agreed with the proposed mandate, others did not feel the use of helmets would make a major difference.
“I have been biking my entire life and I have never had an accident. If I had, a helmet would not have helped,” Tony Shen, a first-year science student at Western, said. “People shouldn’t be reliant on a helmet [for safety]. They should be cautious of surroundings and environment.”
Melanie Chambers, Western professor and avid cyclist, supported the proposed legislation. “It should be mandatory because if you incur a head injury, it’s not like any other part of your body.
It’s irrevocable. The damage is much more serious.”
Although social science student Clive Feldman supported the mandate, he did not believe many people would follow the rules.
Additionally, while Chambers realized the importance of helmets, she also mentioned enforcing the law may be difficult. She showed concern that enforcement of the law may not be top priority for police.
“Police have better things to be doing than stopping cyclists on the road who are not wearing a helmet,” Shen said.
However, Walker disagreed and said the police would have an easy time enforcing the new law if passed.
Officials must await results from further studies before a definitive decision can be made.
Chambers also pointed out being able to ride a bike through the city is not a privilege that should be taken lightly.
“With the right and freedom [of cycling] comes responsibility.”
As a group of fourth year nursing students working on a political action project, we would like to shed some light on the issue of helmet safety in London. We have all noticed a lack of helmet use among individuals over the age of 18 when cycling and rollerblading. When we administered a survey within the university, our speculations were confirmed as less than half of the population surveyed wore a helmet regularly (39%). As helmets have been proven to reduce head injury risk by 85%, we feel there needs to be an increase in helmet safety presentations in high schools in the London area. Although there are many safety presentations in place directed towards elementary school children, the high school aged population is the least likely age group to wear a helmet. We feel there needs to be reinforcement of the safety behaviours taught in elementary school carried into the high school age group. We anticipate this letter will provoke those adults reading this to continue to advocate for safety presentations for high school students, as the lack of helmet use among the high school/adult population continues to be a public health concern within our community.