Out of town: cycling helmet laws in Australia and Sue Abbott

I used to live in Sydney, Australia, so I know all too well from first hand experience just how few cyclists there are out on the streets of Oz.  It's a sad sight indeed and stems directly, I believe, from Australia being one of the first countries in the world to enact a law that makes the wearing of helmets compulsory.  Shortly after the law came into force, levels of cyclists across Oz dropped by 20-40%.  When you consider that cycling regularly is apparently supposed to decrease the risk of heart disease by 50%, as well as all of the other long term health and environmental benefits associated with getting on one's bike, it was all a bit of an own goal for Oz, I'm sure you will agree.  It is worth noting that Australia currently has worse levels of childhood obesity than America.


Well, one determined lady - Sue Abbott - who lives in the pretty, quiet, back-country town of Scone in New South Wales was recently booked for riding without a helmet.  Sue is a well-regarded member of her local community - well educated, sensible, the wife of the town Doctor.  She decided to appeal her court case, and irrepressible Australian film maker, Mike Rubbo, followed her story.  The mesmeric film, below, is the result.  Mike also maintains a cycling blog with an Aussie slant, a jump to which can be found below and in my links bar.


I'm not keen to start an argument here as to whether helmets are a good thing or not, or that the earth is flat or round, merely that doing something that has a risk associated with it in life (be that cycling, smoking or walking down a busy road) should be the choice of the adult individual - and laws to try and force a decision onto us actually has a long term negative effect.  The sooner Australia falls in line with the rest of the world and bans the law on lids, the happier place it will be.



Mike Rubbo's blog:

http://datillo.wordpress.com/