Bay of Plenty Times: Helmet excuses range far and wide

A medical condition, theft and unwavering self belief. These were some of the reasons given by people for not wearing a cycle helmet when the Bay of Plenty Times carried out a street survey on Friday. “I can’t wear one, I have a medical condition,” one man said. Another man, who said he worked in a cycle shop, said his helmet had been stolen. “They [the police] are pretty lenient,” he added. Sixteen-year-old Ailsa Eccles had never thought of buying one. “No one wears a helmet,” she said.

And a man who would only be identified as Richard, 37, said, although he had come off his bike a couple of times he hadn’t knocked his head. “I just think if you believe you need protection then you believe you’ll have an accident.” The Bay Times conducted the survey after top Tauranga cyclist Jon Hume spoke out angrily against people who risk their lives by not wearing a cycle helmet.

Hume suffered multiple fractures and a dislocated shoulder after smashing into a van while cycling at 45kmh near the harbour bridge on Wednesday. He believes he would have died if he had not been wearing a helmet. He made a public plea yesterday for police to be more “hard-nosed” about issuing tickets and for parents to take more responsibility for themselves and their children.

Western Bay traffic chief Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said police did target cyclists without helmets but that a lot of enforcement was done during the hours of darkness when cyclists were difficult to see. “Police do target them during the day but police staff are tasked to risk so road policing staff address the highest risks for us which is intersection compliance, speed, alcohol and restraints.

“But police don’t ignore those not wearing cycle helmets,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that, daily, tickets are given out for cyclists not wearing helmets but police may very well speak with them directly on a daily basis. “If we had significant problems with cycle injuries from failing to wear helmets, it is likely we would refocus our priorities.” Mr Campion reiterated that cycle helmets prevented serious injury and those failing to wear them could be fined $55.

“Whilst I appreciate some of the helmets kids don’t think are cool, there are a whole lot of different designs available on the market today that are quite trendy and they come in all sorts of vibrant colours and a number of styles,” he said. “There is some responsibility for parents to make sure kids are wearing cycle helmets. They are an extremely important piece of equipment.”

Western Bay of Plenty road safety co-ordinator Lynette Hines said males, of all ages, were more inclined to cycle without helmets than females. “One of the most frustrating things I see as road safety co-ordinator is families going cycling and the parents haven’t got their helmets on, especially the males of the family. I can’t understand why people don’t put on cycle helmets.”

Another issue was ill-fitting helmets, especially on young children. “Parents buy a helmet their children can grow into … and often helmets are passed down,” she said. Safe cycling advocate Iris Thomas, who runs a programme in schools, said she often saw helmets being worn sideways or on the back of the head. However she was confident the programme would have a long-term effect.

“You’ve got to get the message across when they’re young. As they get older they listen to their friends more than anyone else.” The programme targets 10-year-olds. , as that is the age recommended by police that children can cycle on their own. “I tell them there is no armour on a cyclist. The only piece of armour they have is on their head. A motorist has a whole motor vehicle.”