Mandatory Helmet Laws

I DON’T LIKE MANDATORY HELMET LAWS (MHLS). I think they are, first and foremost, hypocritical. They’re also ineffective. I also think we’ve had MHLs in Australia for so long that most don’t think critically about them anymore. Like seat belt laws in cars – why wouldn’t you legislate for helmet use?

Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves in this story. I’m also, seemingly in contradiction, a helmet advocate. I’ll take you on my intellectual journey that brought me to this point. Personally, it involved months of research into helmet epidemiology and population statistics. It is roughly the same thinking process that led British parliament to consider and reject their own MHL.

POPULATION HEALTH VERSUS ANECDOTAL EXPERIENCE

“That helmet saved my life.”

“If only he’d been wearing a helmet!”

Neither of those statements are demonstrably true. Someone has a stack, cracks open their helmet,