My brush with the mandatory helmet laws

Last month, whilst cycling on a bike lane in the backstreets of Newtown, I heard a police siren behind me. So I sped up a little to give them room to move thinking that there was some kind of emergency to which they were hurrying, though after a few moments I realised they were actually chasing me. I pulled over and they asked me whether I knew that it is illegal to cycle without wearing a helmet (I wasn’t wearing a helmet). I said “Yes”. After a few awkward moments they got out of the car and asked me why I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I told them that after looking at the evidence (published research by universities, government bodies, and others) I don’t believe that cycling is dangerous enough to warrant wearing a helmet at all times, especially down a bike lane on a quiet street, and that I feel I should be able to decide whether or not I wear a helmet depending on the cycling conditions I am in.

One of the officers repeatedly demanded to know whether I thought “helmets were not safe”, but I kept explaining that that has nothing to do with it. I’m against mandatory helmet laws, not against helmets per se. There are many cycling situations where I feel a helmet should be worn (and there I do wear a helmet) but I didn’t feel that the cycling environment I was in at the time warranted wearing a helmet.

Obviously, they were not impressed. “It’s for your own safety,” they said. They gave me a fine and demanded I either walk to university, or walk home and get my helmet. I feigned agreement and walked in the direction of home. After a while I realised I was running late so I turned into one of the backstreets and past a cul-de-sac and walked on for a little while longer. Then I got on my bike and resumed cycling. But the officers followed me in their police car! They must have driven very fast to follow me as I walked down some one-way streets and then on to the other side of a cul-de-sac.

They pulled me over, visibly very angry at what they called my “serious offence”. One of the officers blurted out some section of the criminal code too fast for me to remember and then read me my rights and momentarily put me under arrest! He threatened to arrest me, put me in jail for the night, confiscate my bike and sell it at a police auction. “I’ve been a police officer for 4 and a half years and I’ve seen some cycling accidents,” he said. He gave me yet another fine and angrily demanded that I walk home to get my helmet before cycling again. I walked home to get my helmet.

Now, regardless of what one may think of wearing helmets and the dangers of cycling, police treating cyclists who choose not to wear a helmet in certain situations like criminals is a gratuitous and just a plain waste of police time and money. This is especially so because, in contrast to the evidence in favour of, say, wearing seatbelts, the evidence for the efficacy of helmets and mandatory helmet laws is at best conflicting.

BY BUD PETAL

Bud Petal is a Sydney-based musician, linguist, and cyclist. Read his blog at budpetal.wordpress.com