An encounter with the law…
I just was issued with a $55 for not wearing a helmet. It’s bugging me, so I have to tell someone about it. You see, I looked just as I do below. Following a successful day at the office I decided to head out for a kebab while Coralee was still at netball practice. Spencer was excited at the prospect of a ride, so off we went. Now I object to the helmet law on many levels – but still I always wear a helmet when I’m out on my ‘go fast’ bikes. There’s no denying that it offers some protection, the vents keep my head cool, and it looks pretty sweet matching my bike’s color-scheme. However. I’ve just come back from Toronto. I read of European cities with HUGE cultures of cycling. I just can’t bring myself to go out looking as I do below and wear a helmet. In the city. Riding a block for my dinner. It’s not necessary and I need to complain to someone!
I’m a utilitarian cyclist. That bike you see, all it does is transport my dog around the block or ferry home my groceries. I get stares. All the time. Come to think of it….it’s probably because I have a puppy in the front. But joking aside, I think I get stares just because I’m riding a bicycle with a hulking basket on the front! We have a non-existent (but slowly growing) community of plain-clothes everyday-type cyclists in Auckland. Spencer doesn’t like to ride on the road. It’s often far too bumpy. I had just bought a kebab on Queen Street and was headed across the main intersection at the bottom to enjoy my dinner with a view of the harbour.
Alas, the police had positioned themselves outside Britomart in that bus only lane. They proceeded to tell me that I also deserved a fine for riding in a bus-only area! WTF? Bikes are allowed in bus lanes in Auckland! Every single person riding to the ferry or train station every day rides that stretch of road – not allowed according to grumpy police man.
I didn’t try and talk myself out of the fine. I realise it’s the law. My fault and all that. But still, I feel angered. Worst of all – I fear telling my wife. I can’t afford a $55 fine!
But in conclusion I’ll tell ya something. I’m not going to start wearing a helmet when I’m out on that bike getting groceries or with the dog. I refuse to. Cycling is not about gearing up with all this equipment before you set off. It’s a simple pleasure where you can hop onto the machine and be whisked into another world. You wouldn’t believe how much I was smiling before I got that ticket. People smile at me as we ride by. I feel the wind in my hair and I whistle as I go….sometimes ringing my bell just for the heck of it. There’s a time and place for helmets…..and gliding across the city for some dinner is not it. I hope there is a day when I can joke with my children that their daddy got fine for riding back when he was the only one. As they hop on their bikes and ride to work in a stream of others – like Copenhagen….or something like that.
I’m never gonna change the cycle law. It’s too politicized now. No politician would dare take away a safety law.
Man, writing this didn’t help at all. I’m still mad as. I’ll see you on the streets tomorrow. I’ll be the one on my basket bike…with my laptop in the basket…..getting coffee before work…without a helmet….cause that’s just how I roll.
AAAAAGGGHHH!
You know, I lived in Auckland all 2008, and rode everyday, everywhere, without a helmet. Coming back to chch was bloody hard. I remember my first week back, every time I went to go for a ride I would stand there staring at my helmet thinking how ridiculous it was that I HAD to wear it. See, in chch you really do have to wear one every day, otherwise they will pounce. But its funny, because now I feel really really insecure without a helmet. Even if I just take it off for a few seconds to air out my hair I start freaking out that I’m gonna crash and split my head wide.
Don’t you feel so helpless though, getting handed that ticket. Last time I got one the cop went of for about fifteen minutes about how he had just ‘educated’ me.
I did not know that about Christchurch – I just spent a 3 day weekend riding around Christchurch helmet-free and did not receive a ticket! I also saw quite a few other people doing the same.
Personally, I think it is my responsibility to ride around without a helmet as I have discovered that it is mainly other people and not the police that are enforcing this law – if everybody stopped wearing one, we’d all get used to it and the police simply can not enforce a law like this. Yes they can give out the occasional fine but if you work it out, even with the occasional fine it is still a hell of a lot cheaper than driving! Don’t think of the helmet fine as an extra cost, think of it as one of the very few costs of riding a bicycle – in the same way a parking fine, a tank of petrol, or the cost of parking in a multistory car park is a cost of owning a car.
Such a good point Unity…the only people that ever point out we’re not wearing helmets are rogue pedestrians….and angry car drivers (and my mom occasionally!). I just taught a geography class right now and showed them the youtube video for Big Little City (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCGa9ekx6Mc)
Did you know they reshot it with the guy in a helmet because of all the furore!
Yes, that advert really makes me laugh – pretty much every shot depicts a romanticized view of Auckland – when was the last time you saw major chefs selecting their fish from local fishermen in the viaduct! or half carcasses being delivered to the butchers in the stables (this has now closed down BTW as everybody [except me] buys their meat at the supermarket, and it only ever sold mince and sausages anyway! How about the riding on the pavement thing or the idea that we have this fabulous park with big golden gates – our actual park is inaccessible from the city as it is cut off by a motorway!
The whole thing is fantasy, a dream like version of what people would like Auckland to be – but when they wake up they get in their cars and drive up the motorways and yell at a cyclist not wearing a helmet!
Yeah the pavement thing! Which incidentally I was ‘warned’ about today by a cop, pretty ridiculous. I mean, I don’t even really understand the logic behind it. I feel alot better about my kid sister cycling to school on the footpath rather than the road…
Hmmmm – what about the hundreds of thousands of dollars that would be spent on your healthcare and rehab should you get a brain injury. Which happens when you’re in your own driveway, let alone on the road. The number of people I’ve treated who have done exactly what you have and paid the price.. well, I’ve lost count. Putting on a helmet isn’t just about you, it’s about your loved ones, and the taxpayer. Flendolyn (also a cyclist).
wow, thanks for your comment Flendolyn. Of course, wearing a helmet is better protection from injury. No-one can deny that. In fact, I have moved house and switched to commuting with my track bike (and helmet) each day. Rather than that basket bike. The point is, I dont think compulsory helmet laws do anything to encourage the kind of cycling I hope to see in the places i live.
I’ve just returned from Toronto (again), and the cyclists there don’t have to wear helmets. Despite this, most do. I did sometimes. Others I didnt.
noone can possibly argue that people would get less injuries without helmets. However, I don’t ride dangerously, or at pace. I’m just meandering from A to B. It should be my choice how I go about that.
I’m positive that requiring all motorists to wear racing car helmets would drastically reduce motor injuries too. Especially for older cars without airbags. But that’s not the point. Money spent enforcing helmets would infinitely be more useful going towards cycling education and awareness. Infrastructure, encouraging the mode of transport. and basically anything else. That’s my opinion.
hear me that I wear a helmet every day! i do. But I dont think that forcing people to wear helmets is the way to go. In fact every city Ive been to with a thriving cycling culture has not had compulsory laws. People still wear em. of course. But it’s not the law.
I cant debate the helmet laws. they’ll never be changed
But i’ll keep on riding with my wife to cornwall park without a helmet to enjoy a picnic. Because cycling, for me, is an activity that I can do however I please
There are very many things in our society that cost the tax payed millions of dollars every year. Obesity, smoking, and lack of exercise are number one in NZ. ACC payouts and head injuries are very much higher for car accidents and sports, particularly rugby, than for cyclists. I even saw on 20/20 last night that statistically one of the most dangerous places you can be is at home – 41 people died last year due to domestic violence, heavens knows how many more people are injured and require care. The report calculated that there were 400,000 cases a year! Compare that with with cycling injuries. Most injuries are minor cuts and bruises, and broken limbs, and nothing to do with helmets at all, also remove accidents where the injury was to major organs other than the head, and finally remove accidents where the helmet would have made no difference anyway – high speeds etc. and what you have left is a very small risk indeed. In fact there are so many other things you can do to improve your potential for a long and happy life … like regular exercise, eating well and living moderately. Avoid water (relatively high risk in NZ), don’t drive a car, avoid sports, and what ever you do, don’t cross the road! Come to think of it, just stay indoors … but not with your family …
I am however going to disagree with Alex’s comment “noone can possibly argue that people would get less injuries without helmets. ” In fact statistics show that helmet laws depress the numbers of cyclists and there is a well known effect called ‘safety in numbers’ that means that the more cyclists there are on the roads, the less risk there is for each individual cyclist as drivers are more aware of cyclists and more drivers are cyclists. Therefore, in can be argued that the compulsory helmet law potentially increases the risk for cyclists by reducing the numbers of people cycling.
One of these days, I’m just going to wear my helmet the whole damned day whether I’m on my bike or not.
“Uh, you’re walking across the road at a pedestrian crossing”
“Have you not seen my two left feet? I’m gonna trip, fall and hit my head on the ground. Which reminds me … I need to get a high-vis vest too for night time walking.”
“But you’re at your desk, working on the computer”
“Think about the gamma radiation. Besides, I may fall off my chair and sustain a life-threatening head injury. Nothing’s going to save my wrist from RSI though.”
“But you’re just grabbing some bread and soy milk”
“Have you seen the statistics for injuries caused by supermarket carts? Why aren’t you making your child wear a helmet? And what happens when you walk around the parking lot? What sort of a parent are you?!”
Hopefully they’ll realise just how silly it is and reach some sort of epiphany.