Saskatoon city helmet by-law
04-04-07, 02:48 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Saskatoon city helmet by-law
Anyone following the story?
Saskatoon City Council will make a final decision on the bylaw on Monday, April 16.
Saskatoon City Council will make a final decision on the bylaw on Monday, April 16.
Last edited by closetbiker; 04-11-07 at 08:06 AM.
04-04-07, 05:19 PM
#2
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Here was a story that ran in yesterdays' StarPhoenix:
Council considers helmet bylaw
Ordinary citizens not consulted: cyclist
Lori Coolican, The StarPhoenix
Published: Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Every cyclist, roller skater, skateboarder and toy scooter rider in Saskatoon would be required to wear a helmet or risk a ticket under a bylaw now before city council.
The idea already has its critics, including some cyclists and at least two city councillors.
"From a cycling perspective, this obsessive, single-minded focus on helmets as the only safety intervention that organizations and governments propose distracts from far greater sources of danger and more important measures which greatly improve cyclist safety," said Darrell Noakes, a local cyclist, in a presentation to council's administration and finance committee on Monday.
The committee first started considering a draft of the bylaw last year, but deferred its decision until civic administration cleared up questions about funding for an accompanying public education campaign, as well as enforcement against children under 12 and on private property.
Meanwhile, ordinary citizens have not been consulted -- only interest groups who want helmets to be mandatory, Noakes told the committee.
"This was discussed at some length at that time, yet the committee minutes reflect a commitment to consult only those groups that support the bylaw.
A year later, the citizens of this city -- especially those whom the bylaw is intended to regulate -- still have not been consulted." City council will debate passage of the proposed bylaw in two weeks.
According to a report received by the committee and forwarded to council, the bylaw would create a $25 fine for failing to wear -- properly, with the chin strap fastened -- an approved helmet while cycling, skateboarding, in-line skating, roller skating or riding a scooter on either public or private property.
The ticket would be reduced to $15 if paid within 14 days, and would be cancelled entirely for firsttime offenders who "provide proof of a helmet" by presenting a sales receipt or the helmet itself at City Hall within 14 days. Children under 12 -- who can't technically be prosecuted due to their age -- would receive a warning and a letter to their parents for a first offence.
After that, the parents would be liable for the ticket if they knowingly allow the child to go without one.
Administrators propose a $150,000 public education campaign, spread out over two years, to accompany the bylaw, along with an offer from the health region that would provide up to 3,000 free helmets to children whose families can't afford them.
Municipal governments across Saskatchewan are under pressure to enact helmet bylaws "because efforts to lobby for provincial legislation have been unsuccessful," Noakes said.
"The province, unlike municipalities, has been consulting the public and understands only too well that this is a divisive issue that the public will not support. Moreover, the effectiveness of helmet laws is hotly contested in scientific journals. It is not the simple and quick solution that you have been promised." Councillors Maurice Neault and Myles Heidt told the committee they won't support a helmet bylaw when it comes to a vote.
A public education campaign may be worthwhile, but a bylaw would force already cashstrapped families to buy helmets and would require the city to hire more bylaw officers, "because I just can't see the police running around and doing this," Heidt said.
Council considers helmet bylaw
Ordinary citizens not consulted: cyclist
Lori Coolican, The StarPhoenix
Published: Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Every cyclist, roller skater, skateboarder and toy scooter rider in Saskatoon would be required to wear a helmet or risk a ticket under a bylaw now before city council.
The idea already has its critics, including some cyclists and at least two city councillors.
"From a cycling perspective, this obsessive, single-minded focus on helmets as the only safety intervention that organizations and governments propose distracts from far greater sources of danger and more important measures which greatly improve cyclist safety," said Darrell Noakes, a local cyclist, in a presentation to council's administration and finance committee on Monday.
The committee first started considering a draft of the bylaw last year, but deferred its decision until civic administration cleared up questions about funding for an accompanying public education campaign, as well as enforcement against children under 12 and on private property.
Meanwhile, ordinary citizens have not been consulted -- only interest groups who want helmets to be mandatory, Noakes told the committee.
"This was discussed at some length at that time, yet the committee minutes reflect a commitment to consult only those groups that support the bylaw.
A year later, the citizens of this city -- especially those whom the bylaw is intended to regulate -- still have not been consulted." City council will debate passage of the proposed bylaw in two weeks.
According to a report received by the committee and forwarded to council, the bylaw would create a $25 fine for failing to wear -- properly, with the chin strap fastened -- an approved helmet while cycling, skateboarding, in-line skating, roller skating or riding a scooter on either public or private property.
The ticket would be reduced to $15 if paid within 14 days, and would be cancelled entirely for firsttime offenders who "provide proof of a helmet" by presenting a sales receipt or the helmet itself at City Hall within 14 days. Children under 12 -- who can't technically be prosecuted due to their age -- would receive a warning and a letter to their parents for a first offence.
After that, the parents would be liable for the ticket if they knowingly allow the child to go without one.
Administrators propose a $150,000 public education campaign, spread out over two years, to accompany the bylaw, along with an offer from the health region that would provide up to 3,000 free helmets to children whose families can't afford them.
Municipal governments across Saskatchewan are under pressure to enact helmet bylaws "because efforts to lobby for provincial legislation have been unsuccessful," Noakes said.
"The province, unlike municipalities, has been consulting the public and understands only too well that this is a divisive issue that the public will not support. Moreover, the effectiveness of helmet laws is hotly contested in scientific journals. It is not the simple and quick solution that you have been promised." Councillors Maurice Neault and Myles Heidt told the committee they won't support a helmet bylaw when it comes to a vote.
A public education campaign may be worthwhile, but a bylaw would force already cashstrapped families to buy helmets and would require the city to hire more bylaw officers, "because I just can't see the police running around and doing this," Heidt said.
04-04-07, 05:22 PM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
...and todays editorial:
New helmet law not best way to secure safety
The StarPhoenix
Published: Wednesday, April 04, 2007
The city will be putting the cart before the horse if council proceeds with a bylaw that will make it mandatory for every bicyclist, roller skater, skateboarder and scooter rider on public or private property to don a safety helmet or risk a $25 fine.
However noble the civic administration and finance committee's intention to protect citizens from themselves, the city is starting at the wrong end of the safety equation by proceeding to mandate the use of helmets, particularly for bicycle riders.
Despite the exhortations of proponents of such a bylaw, their claims about reductions in head injuries and fatalities from the use of helmets are far from clear-cut -- a fact that becomes apparent the moment one begins to look at the debate taking place in forums such as the British Medical Journal.
For instance, points out senior statistician D. L. Robinson, in an analysis entitled No clear evidence from countries that have enforced the wearing of helmets, after Halifax, N.S., introduced a helmet bylaw, their use among riders rose to 80 per cent by 1998-99 from below 40 per cent five years earlier. However, there was no significant reduction in the percentage of head injuries. Similar findings have been reported in other jurisdictions such as Australia and New Zealand.
The most serious injuries to riders come from collisions with motor vehicles, but current helmets standards -- downgraded in weight and style because people don't like bulky lids that make their heads sweat and ruin their hair-dos -- are no match for the forces involved in such crashes. As well, some research link traumatic brain damage that causes permanent intellectual damage to a form of torsional force injuries that cannot be prevented by wearing a helmet.
The very factors that have led to the redesign of bike helmets to make them thinner and provide more vents, also leave more of the head exposed in the back. While it's rare for a cyclist to suffer a blow to this region from a fall, that's not the case for skateboarders and rollerbladers. Those who want to include the latter in a helmet law need to be cognizant of the enforcement problems this creates in ascertaining what is considered an "approved helmet" under the bylaw.
And at a time when childhood obesity is becoming a huge problem in our society, the experience of some jurisdictions that have enacted helmet laws is less than encouraging. In Australia, for instance, the frequency of riding slowed for more than one-third of bare-headed cyclists after the mandated helmet law. As well, there are concerns about helmets making riders more prone to risk-taking and motorists treating helmeted riders differently, by giving them less clearance when passing.
What's clear, however, from jurisdictions such as Denmark and the Netherlands, which have low rates of helmet use but noteworthy safety records, is the effectiveness of working to improve the riding skills of bicyclists, providing education on bike maintenance and most important of all, separation of bicyclists from motorized vehicle traffic on roadways. Their extensive network of bicycle paths often is separated physically not only from motorized traffic but from pedestrian sidewalks.
If Saskatoon city council truly is interested in looking after the health and safety of bike riders, it needs to begin by designating more bicycle routes across the city and incorporating bike lanes into new street construction, not taking the easy way out by passing a bylaw to mandate helmet use.
The danger of the helmet law is that council then will be content to wash its hands of the issue instead of doing what it really takes to ensure Saskatoon becomes a bicycle-friendly city.
If keeping our children safe is the objective, civic authorities and those in the health region, who are willing to hand out 3,000 free helmets to poor children, should be co-ordinating their efforts with the city's school divisions to improve the riding skills of youngsters and teaching them the basics needed to keep their bikes in safe working order.
In our cash-obsessed North American society, it may seem like an effective move to encourage compliance by handing out $25 tickets to unhelmeted scofflaws, but it's effect is likely to be worse than the intended cure.
Realists will concede that it won't be white, middle-class children in Saskatoon who are likely to be nabbed for non-compliance with the helmet law.
A letter sent home to parents of a first-time offender might work in their case, but not for the too many children left to their own devices in the city's core at all hours. To try to ticket their parents for a subsequent failure to ensure their child's compliance only will create more work for the legal system and to no discernible gain. It may even add helmets to the veritable epidemic of bike thefts that now plagues the city.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007
New helmet law not best way to secure safety
The StarPhoenix
Published: Wednesday, April 04, 2007
The city will be putting the cart before the horse if council proceeds with a bylaw that will make it mandatory for every bicyclist, roller skater, skateboarder and scooter rider on public or private property to don a safety helmet or risk a $25 fine.
However noble the civic administration and finance committee's intention to protect citizens from themselves, the city is starting at the wrong end of the safety equation by proceeding to mandate the use of helmets, particularly for bicycle riders.
Despite the exhortations of proponents of such a bylaw, their claims about reductions in head injuries and fatalities from the use of helmets are far from clear-cut -- a fact that becomes apparent the moment one begins to look at the debate taking place in forums such as the British Medical Journal.
For instance, points out senior statistician D. L. Robinson, in an analysis entitled No clear evidence from countries that have enforced the wearing of helmets, after Halifax, N.S., introduced a helmet bylaw, their use among riders rose to 80 per cent by 1998-99 from below 40 per cent five years earlier. However, there was no significant reduction in the percentage of head injuries. Similar findings have been reported in other jurisdictions such as Australia and New Zealand.
The most serious injuries to riders come from collisions with motor vehicles, but current helmets standards -- downgraded in weight and style because people don't like bulky lids that make their heads sweat and ruin their hair-dos -- are no match for the forces involved in such crashes. As well, some research link traumatic brain damage that causes permanent intellectual damage to a form of torsional force injuries that cannot be prevented by wearing a helmet.
The very factors that have led to the redesign of bike helmets to make them thinner and provide more vents, also leave more of the head exposed in the back. While it's rare for a cyclist to suffer a blow to this region from a fall, that's not the case for skateboarders and rollerbladers. Those who want to include the latter in a helmet law need to be cognizant of the enforcement problems this creates in ascertaining what is considered an "approved helmet" under the bylaw.
And at a time when childhood obesity is becoming a huge problem in our society, the experience of some jurisdictions that have enacted helmet laws is less than encouraging. In Australia, for instance, the frequency of riding slowed for more than one-third of bare-headed cyclists after the mandated helmet law. As well, there are concerns about helmets making riders more prone to risk-taking and motorists treating helmeted riders differently, by giving them less clearance when passing.
What's clear, however, from jurisdictions such as Denmark and the Netherlands, which have low rates of helmet use but noteworthy safety records, is the effectiveness of working to improve the riding skills of bicyclists, providing education on bike maintenance and most important of all, separation of bicyclists from motorized vehicle traffic on roadways. Their extensive network of bicycle paths often is separated physically not only from motorized traffic but from pedestrian sidewalks.
If Saskatoon city council truly is interested in looking after the health and safety of bike riders, it needs to begin by designating more bicycle routes across the city and incorporating bike lanes into new street construction, not taking the easy way out by passing a bylaw to mandate helmet use.
The danger of the helmet law is that council then will be content to wash its hands of the issue instead of doing what it really takes to ensure Saskatoon becomes a bicycle-friendly city.
If keeping our children safe is the objective, civic authorities and those in the health region, who are willing to hand out 3,000 free helmets to poor children, should be co-ordinating their efforts with the city's school divisions to improve the riding skills of youngsters and teaching them the basics needed to keep their bikes in safe working order.
In our cash-obsessed North American society, it may seem like an effective move to encourage compliance by handing out $25 tickets to unhelmeted scofflaws, but it's effect is likely to be worse than the intended cure.
Realists will concede that it won't be white, middle-class children in Saskatoon who are likely to be nabbed for non-compliance with the helmet law.
A letter sent home to parents of a first-time offender might work in their case, but not for the too many children left to their own devices in the city's core at all hours. To try to ticket their parents for a subsequent failure to ensure their child's compliance only will create more work for the legal system and to no discernible gain. It may even add helmets to the veritable epidemic of bike thefts that now plagues the city.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007
04-04-07, 05:25 PM
#4
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I think it's interesting seeing how the province of Saskatchewan has rejected the idea of a law for the province to helmet riders, that proponents of MHLs have made an attempt to legislate by city.
Newfoundland has no provincial law for helmets, but St. John's has a city MH by-law. Unique in Canada.
Newfoundland has no provincial law for helmets, but St. John's has a city MH by-law. Unique in Canada.
Last edited by closetbiker; 04-05-07 at 12:35 AM.
04-13-07, 02:54 PM
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
The two following letters appeared in today's paper (The Star Phoenix, Saskatoon).
Mandating bike helmet use ill-advised move by council
As a long-time resident of Saskatoon and an avid cyclist, I want to
put in my two cents' worth on enacting a mandatory bicycle helmet law.
I've used a bicycle as my primary source of transportation for more
than 20 years and haven't had an accident that required me to seek
medical attention.
That's quite a feat, considering I've biked through rush-hour
traffic, torrential downpours and 40-below windchills. But I don't
attribute this good fortune to protective gear, because I don't wear
any. I attribute it to the fact that I realize how vulnerable I am
and ride very defensively.
Of all the studies into the effects of helmet laws, I find the most
interesting statistic involves the reduction of bicycle injuries
because of fewer people cycling as a result of the law.
And if city council decides to enact a helmet law, cyclists can sign
me up for a AAA membership and flip me the bird if I cut you off in
traffic, because I'll finally buy into the fossil fuel burning
transportation culture that permeates society.
Now that I think about it, maybe city council really is looking out
for my best interests and not just pandering to lobby groups. After
all, it did come out with bylaws that prohibit spitting and urinating
in public. I bet that's saved me countless slip-and-fall head injuries.
I guess my share of the "150,000 public education campaign" that
comes with this bylaw is a small price to pay to help protect me from
myself. Now, if council could come up with a bylaw that prohibits me
from running around my house while holding scissors, I just might
become immortal! M. J. Todd Saskatoon
*****************************************
Extend helmet protection to pedestrians, motorists
As an avid year-round pedestrian (and cyclist), I was outraged and
alarmed at city council's callous disregard for the safety of
Saskatoon's walking citizens.
I read in The SP that more than 500 people were injured walking in
the last five years, and three died. Yet, I hear no call for a law
that requires pedestrians to wear CSA-approved helmets.
Why is this? Surely, such a simple law would save lives. After all,
isn't that all that really matters? And while we are on the subject,
wouldn't lightweight helmets worn in vehicles also save countless
head injuries? Let's get on this, people! I will support the passing
of the proposed intrusive and unjustified helmet law for cyclists,
skateboarders, rollerskaters (what, not joggers?) only if it is
amended to include the above at-risk people. Blaine Gysler
Saskatoon
Mandating bike helmet use ill-advised move by council
As a long-time resident of Saskatoon and an avid cyclist, I want to
put in my two cents' worth on enacting a mandatory bicycle helmet law.
I've used a bicycle as my primary source of transportation for more
than 20 years and haven't had an accident that required me to seek
medical attention.
That's quite a feat, considering I've biked through rush-hour
traffic, torrential downpours and 40-below windchills. But I don't
attribute this good fortune to protective gear, because I don't wear
any. I attribute it to the fact that I realize how vulnerable I am
and ride very defensively.
Of all the studies into the effects of helmet laws, I find the most
interesting statistic involves the reduction of bicycle injuries
because of fewer people cycling as a result of the law.
And if city council decides to enact a helmet law, cyclists can sign
me up for a AAA membership and flip me the bird if I cut you off in
traffic, because I'll finally buy into the fossil fuel burning
transportation culture that permeates society.
Now that I think about it, maybe city council really is looking out
for my best interests and not just pandering to lobby groups. After
all, it did come out with bylaws that prohibit spitting and urinating
in public. I bet that's saved me countless slip-and-fall head injuries.
I guess my share of the "150,000 public education campaign" that
comes with this bylaw is a small price to pay to help protect me from
myself. Now, if council could come up with a bylaw that prohibits me
from running around my house while holding scissors, I just might
become immortal! M. J. Todd Saskatoon
*****************************************
Extend helmet protection to pedestrians, motorists
As an avid year-round pedestrian (and cyclist), I was outraged and
alarmed at city council's callous disregard for the safety of
Saskatoon's walking citizens.
I read in The SP that more than 500 people were injured walking in
the last five years, and three died. Yet, I hear no call for a law
that requires pedestrians to wear CSA-approved helmets.
Why is this? Surely, such a simple law would save lives. After all,
isn't that all that really matters? And while we are on the subject,
wouldn't lightweight helmets worn in vehicles also save countless
head injuries? Let's get on this, people! I will support the passing
of the proposed intrusive and unjustified helmet law for cyclists,
skateboarders, rollerskaters (what, not joggers?) only if it is
amended to include the above at-risk people. Blaine Gysler
Saskatoon
04-14-07, 04:58 PM
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While I am all for wearing helmets (I prefer to ride with one myself), I think it's ridiculous to mandate helmets in one city. Heck, I think its dumb to make vehicle bylaws (ie, certain color motercycles aren't allowed in town as an extreme example, or bike bells being mandatory in some cities and not others - I have a bike bell on my bike just in case I find myself riding someplace where it is mandatory) for any vehicle that are not consistant with the rest of the province. If I were riding to Saskatoon on my bike without a helment and helmets were not mandated where I came from, I would be extremely pissed off coming into Saskatoon and getting fined for not complying to their bylaws. If it was a Saskatchewan wide law to mandate helmets, that would be a different story.
I'm pretty sure Helmets are a province wide mandate in Alberta for cyclists under 18. When it was first implemented, all kids were wearing helmets. After a few months, it was as though such a law hadn't even been passed. Even then, I doubt many, if any, people have been ticketed for not riding with a helmet. It is not worth the officers time or effort to enforce. It would probably be the same thing in Saskatoon: A law, but rarely enforced.
And for little kids, how are they going to get hold of their parents? Run their prints on AFIS or something? It would be far too much of a hassel. To really enforce that for kids, you'd also probably have to mandate bicycle licencing as well. You could only really enforce this for kids in a small town where you know who their parents are, and even then, it's typically not enforced.
One of the guys in one of those editorials said that they should build bike lanes. The trouble is, if you build bike lanes, then there is the possibility that bicycles could be banned from normal roads (I was riding in a school van the other day in Saskatoon, and we came upon a road -probably a freeway- where cycling was banned). If one isn't careful, bikes could be banned from roads, required to ride at 10kph on bike/people paths, and be unable to reach certain parts of the city. Or so that is my fear... which is getting a bit off topic.
I'm pretty sure Helmets are a province wide mandate in Alberta for cyclists under 18. When it was first implemented, all kids were wearing helmets. After a few months, it was as though such a law hadn't even been passed. Even then, I doubt many, if any, people have been ticketed for not riding with a helmet. It is not worth the officers time or effort to enforce. It would probably be the same thing in Saskatoon: A law, but rarely enforced.
And for little kids, how are they going to get hold of their parents? Run their prints on AFIS or something? It would be far too much of a hassel. To really enforce that for kids, you'd also probably have to mandate bicycle licencing as well. You could only really enforce this for kids in a small town where you know who their parents are, and even then, it's typically not enforced.
One of the guys in one of those editorials said that they should build bike lanes. The trouble is, if you build bike lanes, then there is the possibility that bicycles could be banned from normal roads (I was riding in a school van the other day in Saskatoon, and we came upon a road -probably a freeway- where cycling was banned). If one isn't careful, bikes could be banned from roads, required to ride at 10kph on bike/people paths, and be unable to reach certain parts of the city. Or so that is my fear... which is getting a bit off topic.
04-15-07, 04:51 AM
#7
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I am all for wearing a helmet, and am 99% sure that I am for a mandatory helmet law. Saskatoon seems to be stuck in the past when it come to cycling. We have the sarcastic arguments like; "Yet, I hear no call for a law that requires pedestrians to wear CSA-approved helmets" and those who feel like it is just a token step, "The danger of the helmet law is that council then will be content to wash its hands of the issue instead of doing what it really takes to ensure Saskatoon becomes a bicycle-friendly city", instead of what really needs to be done.
I feel like the fact that the city has a cycling bylaw before city council is a big step for Saskatoon. Is it the most important factor for making Saskatoon bike friendly? Maybe not, but it is a step none the less. We currently have bylaws (#6884) which require the use of a bell, a front head light after dark, and allow no riding on sidewalks at all, even for small children. I do not here any one complaining about how the police have had trouble enforcing these bylaws. They do enforce them too. I have met many people who have been ticketed. There seems to be no problem with the police contacting parents. It is just the same if a child steals something from a store, the police have ways of contacting their parents.
Cyclists in Saskatoon, or any other city will never be able to agree on what the best way to regulate it is. Because every cyclist is different, has a different style of riding, and there will always be those that break the law. But why should cyclist feel that they are above the law and that laws should not apply to them?
I feel like the fact that the city has a cycling bylaw before city council is a big step for Saskatoon. Is it the most important factor for making Saskatoon bike friendly? Maybe not, but it is a step none the less. We currently have bylaws (#6884) which require the use of a bell, a front head light after dark, and allow no riding on sidewalks at all, even for small children. I do not here any one complaining about how the police have had trouble enforcing these bylaws. They do enforce them too. I have met many people who have been ticketed. There seems to be no problem with the police contacting parents. It is just the same if a child steals something from a store, the police have ways of contacting their parents.
Cyclists in Saskatoon, or any other city will never be able to agree on what the best way to regulate it is. Because every cyclist is different, has a different style of riding, and there will always be those that break the law. But why should cyclist feel that they are above the law and that laws should not apply to them?
04-15-07, 07:55 AM
#8
Senior Member
Thread Starter
How or what, do you feel about the fact that (correct me if I'm wrong here) St. John's is the only city in Canada that has a helmet by-law, because the rules of the road are a provinces jurisdiction?
Isn't it Saskatchewans responsibility to determine if this should be a law, and if it is, why hasn't this been done?
Isn't it Saskatchewans responsibility to determine if this should be a law, and if it is, why hasn't this been done?
04-15-07, 01:25 PM
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Originally Posted by closetbiker
How or what, do you feel about the fact that (correct me if I'm wrong here) St. John's is the only city in Canada that has a helmet by-law, because the rules of the road are a provinces jurisdiction?
Isn't it Saskatchewans responsibility to determine if this should be a law, and if it is, why hasn't this been done?
Isn't it Saskatchewans responsibility to determine if this should be a law, and if it is, why hasn't this been done?
I don't feel it is the provinces responsibility to determine the law. The city is thinking about making it a bylaw. Saskatoon has many bylaws that are exclusive to it, and not the province. This is a thing that many cities have.
04-15-07, 02:29 PM
#10
Senior Member
Thread Starter
A far as I know, St.John's is the only city in Canada that has done this. Saskatoon would be the second (if they pass it)
*and, as far as I understand, Saskatoon already has a helmet wearing rate of 47%. If we consider that it's probable, even if a law passes, that some people will refuse to comply, the most the wearing rate would increase to would an additional 30%. When you further consider the limits of helmet performance, and the numbers of people cycling that do receive head injuries, that's a pretty heavy hand to reduce a small number of bumps and bruises.*
*and, as far as I understand, Saskatoon already has a helmet wearing rate of 47%. If we consider that it's probable, even if a law passes, that some people will refuse to comply, the most the wearing rate would increase to would an additional 30%. When you further consider the limits of helmet performance, and the numbers of people cycling that do receive head injuries, that's a pretty heavy hand to reduce a small number of bumps and bruises.*
Last edited by closetbiker; 04-17-07 at 08:18 AM.
04-17-07, 08:20 AM
#11
Senior Member
Thread Starter
More commentary on Saskatoon bylaw
Vic Dubois is general manager of CJWW 600 AM, Hot 93 FM and Magic 98.3 FM radio in Saskatoon.
Helmet Bylaw
Monday, 09 April 2007
Coffeetalk Audio -
"Play Sound" (Mini-MP3-Player 1.2 ©Ute Jacobi)
Are we over-protective of ourselves and our kids nowadays?
That's a question we hear debated quite often. We seem to have evolved into a society that will bend over backward to prevent accidents and injury. Not that I'm saying some steps we've taken haven't been correct and necessary but I'm a child of the 60's. I remember when seatbelts weren't mandatory and cars only had lap belts in them in any case, along with no head restraints. I remember when hockey players of any age and level didn't wear helmets, let alone face shields or visors and mouth guards and neck guards. Are serious injuries in sports or vehicle mishaps less today than 40 years ago? If so, I haven't heard.
We did wear helmets when riding motorcycles back then but no one wore anything of the kind when riding an ordinary bike. Now I see that Saskatoon is considering a bylaw that would force everybody to wear helmets to ride just about anything with wheels on it as well as skateboards and toboggans. I say good luck enforcing that one. What's next, mandatory helmets when driving or riding in a golf cart? Some people do wear a helmet when bike riding. I know we made our kids wear them when they were young. Speaking of bikes, I should probably take my old ten-speed out of the shed, oil it up, pump up the tires and take it for a spin when the weather warms up. It's been a while but what's that old saying when someone thinks they've forgotten how to do something? "Don't worry, it's just like riding a bicycle".
That's Coffeetalk. I'm Vic Dubois.
Vic Dubois is general manager of CJWW 600 AM, Hot 93 FM and Magic 98.3 FM radio in Saskatoon.
Helmet Bylaw
Monday, 09 April 2007
Coffeetalk Audio -
"Play Sound" (Mini-MP3-Player 1.2 ©Ute Jacobi)
Are we over-protective of ourselves and our kids nowadays?
That's a question we hear debated quite often. We seem to have evolved into a society that will bend over backward to prevent accidents and injury. Not that I'm saying some steps we've taken haven't been correct and necessary but I'm a child of the 60's. I remember when seatbelts weren't mandatory and cars only had lap belts in them in any case, along with no head restraints. I remember when hockey players of any age and level didn't wear helmets, let alone face shields or visors and mouth guards and neck guards. Are serious injuries in sports or vehicle mishaps less today than 40 years ago? If so, I haven't heard.
We did wear helmets when riding motorcycles back then but no one wore anything of the kind when riding an ordinary bike. Now I see that Saskatoon is considering a bylaw that would force everybody to wear helmets to ride just about anything with wheels on it as well as skateboards and toboggans. I say good luck enforcing that one. What's next, mandatory helmets when driving or riding in a golf cart? Some people do wear a helmet when bike riding. I know we made our kids wear them when they were young. Speaking of bikes, I should probably take my old ten-speed out of the shed, oil it up, pump up the tires and take it for a spin when the weather warms up. It's been a while but what's that old saying when someone thinks they've forgotten how to do something? "Don't worry, it's just like riding a bicycle".
That's Coffeetalk. I'm Vic Dubois.
04-17-07, 08:23 AM
#12
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Sasktaoon decides unanimously against helmet proposal - Star-Phoenix
City council decides unanimously against helmet proposal
By Janet French, The StarPhoenix
Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Helmets won’t be required wear for bikers, in-line skaters and skateboarders, Saskatoon city council decided Monday night.
After hearing speakers plead for more than an hour supporting and rejecting a bylaw requiring helmets for wheeled recreation in the city, council unanimously agreed the bylaw wasn’t the right tool for injury prevention.
Canada is in the throes of an obesity epidemic, Coun. Pat Lorje said. She had heard from residents who said a helmet bylaw would dissuade people from biking, and she didn’t want to make any decisions that would prevent people from being active. “I am not convinced that going the bylaw route is the way to go,” she said. “I believe we need positive rather than punitive measures.”
Coun. Bev Dubois said she was overwhelmed with the amount of negative feedback she got when council began considering the bylaw.
“The passion in the community is unbelievable.”
The paper trail to track down people who rip up their $25 ticket for violating the helmet bylaw would create too much work for police, Dubois said.
“Our police service does not have time to do this,” she said.
While council agreed to pass a motion accepting the draft bylaw for information only, Coun. Glen Penner successfully added an amendment saying council would work with community organizations to pursue an education program to inform people about the benefits of bicycle helmets.
Prior to the vote, councillors heard from five cyclists who opposed the bylaw, saying the law would discourage people from cycling, further alienate helmet-less inner-city residents from police, and be onerous, expensive and confusing for police to enforce.
Several injury prevention advocates spoke in favour of a helmet bylaw. Jennifer Link, from the Think First Foundation, said wearing a proper-fitting helmet is a simple way to prevent life-altering head injuries.
Dalene Newton of the Acquired Brain Injury program said safety advocates believe a combination of education, engineering and enforcement is the best formula to prevent injuries. Surveys of bike riders in 2002 and 2004 showed about 47 per cent of people in the city use a helmet, Newton said.
The city first considered making helmets law in September 2005, when the administration and finance committee drafted a bylaw requiring helmets during all wheeled activities.
In March 2006, the committee sent a draft bylaw back to administrators with more questions. The law states the city can’t charge anyone under 12 with an offence, so councillors wanted to know how they could enforce the helmet bylaw as it would apply to children. They also wanted to know whether the law applied to private property, and whether there were alternatives to handing out fines for a first offence.
Councillors also wanted to see administrators prepare a public education campaign to accompany the introduction of the bylaw.
Atchison told councillors the bylaw is not dead — council could, in the future, attempt to breathe life into it again.
In a March 27 report to council, city solicitor Theresa Dust said the draft bylaw had been changed to address those issues. As written, the draft law would apply to private property, she said, and enforcement officers would be allowed to fine any parent or guardian who knowingly allows a child under 12 to participate in a wheeled activity without wearing a helmet.
The draft bylaw also includes options for people to avoid paying a fine the first time they’re ticketed under a new helmet law. If a rider showed city officials a bike helmet, or a receipt for the purchase of a bike helmet, within 14 days of receiving the ticket, their fine would be waived, according to the draft.
The fine proposed under the bylaw is $25, which could be reduced to $15 if the ticketed person pays within 14 days.
Administrators had also proposed a communications campaign informing people about the new bylaw and bike safety that would cost $90,500 in the first year the bylaw took effect, and $63,000 the year after.
Although the Saskatoon Health Region had committed to covering as much as 50 per cent of the cost of that campaign, the region hadn’t yet finalized those details.
City council decides unanimously against helmet proposal
By Janet French, The StarPhoenix
Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Helmets won’t be required wear for bikers, in-line skaters and skateboarders, Saskatoon city council decided Monday night.
After hearing speakers plead for more than an hour supporting and rejecting a bylaw requiring helmets for wheeled recreation in the city, council unanimously agreed the bylaw wasn’t the right tool for injury prevention.
Canada is in the throes of an obesity epidemic, Coun. Pat Lorje said. She had heard from residents who said a helmet bylaw would dissuade people from biking, and she didn’t want to make any decisions that would prevent people from being active. “I am not convinced that going the bylaw route is the way to go,” she said. “I believe we need positive rather than punitive measures.”
Coun. Bev Dubois said she was overwhelmed with the amount of negative feedback she got when council began considering the bylaw.
“The passion in the community is unbelievable.”
The paper trail to track down people who rip up their $25 ticket for violating the helmet bylaw would create too much work for police, Dubois said.
“Our police service does not have time to do this,” she said.
While council agreed to pass a motion accepting the draft bylaw for information only, Coun. Glen Penner successfully added an amendment saying council would work with community organizations to pursue an education program to inform people about the benefits of bicycle helmets.
Prior to the vote, councillors heard from five cyclists who opposed the bylaw, saying the law would discourage people from cycling, further alienate helmet-less inner-city residents from police, and be onerous, expensive and confusing for police to enforce.
Several injury prevention advocates spoke in favour of a helmet bylaw. Jennifer Link, from the Think First Foundation, said wearing a proper-fitting helmet is a simple way to prevent life-altering head injuries.
Dalene Newton of the Acquired Brain Injury program said safety advocates believe a combination of education, engineering and enforcement is the best formula to prevent injuries. Surveys of bike riders in 2002 and 2004 showed about 47 per cent of people in the city use a helmet, Newton said.
The city first considered making helmets law in September 2005, when the administration and finance committee drafted a bylaw requiring helmets during all wheeled activities.
In March 2006, the committee sent a draft bylaw back to administrators with more questions. The law states the city can’t charge anyone under 12 with an offence, so councillors wanted to know how they could enforce the helmet bylaw as it would apply to children. They also wanted to know whether the law applied to private property, and whether there were alternatives to handing out fines for a first offence.
Councillors also wanted to see administrators prepare a public education campaign to accompany the introduction of the bylaw.
Atchison told councillors the bylaw is not dead — council could, in the future, attempt to breathe life into it again.
In a March 27 report to council, city solicitor Theresa Dust said the draft bylaw had been changed to address those issues. As written, the draft law would apply to private property, she said, and enforcement officers would be allowed to fine any parent or guardian who knowingly allows a child under 12 to participate in a wheeled activity without wearing a helmet.
The draft bylaw also includes options for people to avoid paying a fine the first time they’re ticketed under a new helmet law. If a rider showed city officials a bike helmet, or a receipt for the purchase of a bike helmet, within 14 days of receiving the ticket, their fine would be waived, according to the draft.
The fine proposed under the bylaw is $25, which could be reduced to $15 if the ticketed person pays within 14 days.
Administrators had also proposed a communications campaign informing people about the new bylaw and bike safety that would cost $90,500 in the first year the bylaw took effect, and $63,000 the year after.
Although the Saskatoon Health Region had committed to covering as much as 50 per cent of the cost of that campaign, the region hadn’t yet finalized those details.
Last edited by closetbiker; 04-17-07 at 08:42 AM.
04-17-07, 12:51 PM
#14
Senior Member
Thread Starter
I (almost) wish I could have heard them too.
Council received much scientific evidence from both sides of the argument and used these submissions, as well as public input, to determine an outcome.
I doubt the call ins had as much information considered when giving their opinions.
Council received much scientific evidence from both sides of the argument and used these submissions, as well as public input, to determine an outcome.
I doubt the call ins had as much information considered when giving their opinions.
07-15-07, 10:36 PM
#15
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Originally Posted by closetbiker
How or what, do you feel about the fact that (correct me if I'm wrong here) St. John's is the only city in Canada that has a helmet by-law, because the rules of the road are a provinces jurisdiction?
Isn't it Saskatchewans responsibility to determine if this should be a law, and if it is, why hasn't this been done?
Isn't it Saskatchewans responsibility to determine if this should be a law, and if it is, why hasn't this been done?
we also have the option to show a helmet receipt if we get a ticket. the ticket is scrapped if you have a helmet receipt. Most people just get a receipt for free from the bike shops.....lol
furthermore, as a Free-man On The Land, i dont consent to being governed by the laws, statutes and bylaws of the province or country.
Last edited by Bushman; 07-15-07 at 10:41 PM.
07-16-07, 08:05 AM
#16
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Actually, Vancouver doesn't have a helmet by-law, the province of British Columbia has an all ages mandatory helmet law that was enacted back in 1996.
Enforcement is sporadic, ranging from almost none to vigorous. I've seen people ride next to police and nothing was done and I've seen others ordered off their bikes. The police can not only give out a ticket, but if the offender gets back on the bike, the bike can be seized.
How the law is enforced is up to the discretion of the cop and the priorities of the local police depatment.
Recently I heard from a friend that just last week, he saw a cop run out into the street to try to physically grab a cyclist riding in traffic to give him a ticket for not wearing a helmet.
Enforcement is sporadic, ranging from almost none to vigorous. I've seen people ride next to police and nothing was done and I've seen others ordered off their bikes. The police can not only give out a ticket, but if the offender gets back on the bike, the bike can be seized.
How the law is enforced is up to the discretion of the cop and the priorities of the local police depatment.
Recently I heard from a friend that just last week, he saw a cop run out into the street to try to physically grab a cyclist riding in traffic to give him a ticket for not wearing a helmet.
07-16-07, 08:25 AM
#17
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Coun. Bev Dubois said she was overwhelmed with the amount of negative feedback she got when council began considering the bylaw.
I wonder what the average BCer thinks about the law now (for an adult to be forced to wear one by law).
Clearly, lots of adults do not wear one despite the law and for what it's worth (probably not much), Costco's summer magazine presented a debate on the subject for it's customers with an ability to vote online yea or nea.
Currrently the vote is running 65 -35 for the right of an adult to choose
Last edited by closetbiker; 07-16-07 at 09:23 AM.
07-16-07, 05:04 PM
#18
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Originally Posted by closetbiker
Actually, Vancouver doesn't have a helmet by-law, the province of British Columbia has an all ages mandatory helmet law that was enacted back in 1996.
Enforcement is sporadic, ranging from almost none to vigorous. I've seen people ride next to police and nothing was done and I've seen others ordered off their bikes. The police can not only give out a ticket, but if the offender gets back on the bike, the bike can be seized.
How the law is enforced is up to the discretion of the cop and the priorities of the local police depatment.
Recently I heard from a friend that just last week, he saw a cop run out into the street to try to physically grab a cyclist riding in traffic to give him a ticket for not wearing a helmet.
Enforcement is sporadic, ranging from almost none to vigorous. I've seen people ride next to police and nothing was done and I've seen others ordered off their bikes. The police can not only give out a ticket, but if the offender gets back on the bike, the bike can be seized.
How the law is enforced is up to the discretion of the cop and the priorities of the local police depatment.
Recently I heard from a friend that just last week, he saw a cop run out into the street to try to physically grab a cyclist riding in traffic to give him a ticket for not wearing a helmet.
scroll down to
City of Vancouver Street and Traffic By-Law No. 2849, BICYCLES, Section 60D.
. its a joint bylaw with the Provincial order.
07-16-07, 06:48 PM
#19
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Bushman
https://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/engs...tm#provhelmets
scroll down to
City of Vancouver Street and Traffic By-Law No. 2849, BICYCLES, Section 60D.
. its a joint bylaw with the Provincial order.
scroll down to
City of Vancouver Street and Traffic By-Law No. 2849, BICYCLES, Section 60D.
. its a joint bylaw with the Provincial order.
that's a by-law for any path or way, closing a loop-hole that allowed cyclists to be lidless because they weren't on the roadway (or highway)
before, one could ride on the seawalk, in Stanley Park or one of the many bikeways that link through the city without a helmet.
Last edited by closetbiker; 07-16-07 at 07:21 PM.
07-17-07, 12:53 AM
#20
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your right, i just noticed that 
interesting, the wording used to be "and road, marked street or lane"...i wonder when that got changed
good eye Closetbiker!
interesting, the wording used to be "and road, marked street or lane"...i wonder when that got changed good eye Closetbiker!
07-17-07, 09:03 AM
#21
Senior Member
Thread Starter
it was after the provincial law was passed. There's actually quite a lot of routes where one can ride bikes away from cars and police couldn't ticket lidless cycists in parks or anywhere that cars couldn't go. The province wanted everyone to wear helmets.
Last report I saw, around 70% of riders wore them at the peak of enforcement. The overall rate before the law was 46%. I'm not sure what it is now, but I'll guess it's between 50% and 60%.
Commuters were already wearing them and still are wearing them at the sme rate. It's the recreational and neighborhood riders who had the largest increases in usage. Studies have shown it's not so much that more were putting them on, but those who didn't wear them before have stopped riding.
This is what I wonder about Saskatoon council passing a law. I believe the situation is similar. Just how many more people are they going to get wearing them and at what cost? Regular cyclists pretty much wear them already and any increase will come at a large effort. Irregular riders just stop riding if they're hassled. Is it better for Saskatoon to see a drop in the rate of people choosing to ride a bicycle?
I think the drop in people riding bikes is an unintended consequence from a well intended attempt to make things better and something council ultimately took into consideration when turning down the proposed legislation.
Last report I saw, around 70% of riders wore them at the peak of enforcement. The overall rate before the law was 46%. I'm not sure what it is now, but I'll guess it's between 50% and 60%.
Commuters were already wearing them and still are wearing them at the sme rate. It's the recreational and neighborhood riders who had the largest increases in usage. Studies have shown it's not so much that more were putting them on, but those who didn't wear them before have stopped riding.
This is what I wonder about Saskatoon council passing a law. I believe the situation is similar. Just how many more people are they going to get wearing them and at what cost? Regular cyclists pretty much wear them already and any increase will come at a large effort. Irregular riders just stop riding if they're hassled. Is it better for Saskatoon to see a drop in the rate of people choosing to ride a bicycle?
I think the drop in people riding bikes is an unintended consequence from a well intended attempt to make things better and something council ultimately took into consideration when turning down the proposed legislation.
Last edited by closetbiker; 07-17-07 at 08:54 PM.
