Manitoba considers adding helmet law
Government working on new strategies to promote use of bike helmets
Only four provinces in Canada still don’t have helmet laws for cyclists, but one of them is looking at possibly changing that. The Manitoba government wants to figure out a way to get more people wearing bike helmets, and they’re considering adding a law that would fine people not wearing them.
In the meantime, Healthy Living minister Jim Rondeau said the province will take a different approach to encouraging kids and adults to wear them – be spreading the message about how important it is. Rondeau said kids need to hear the message from peers rather than just parents and the government, so they’re looking at offering incentives and funding student groups to promote the idea – a strategy that helped reduce smoking in the province.
“We want kids to understand the importance (of helmets), but also to get kids to work with kids to wear the helmets, so it won’t just be their parents and the authorities saying, ‘You shall’,” Rondeau said Friday at a conference with of community groups that promote healthy lifestyles.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Newfoundland are the only provinces with no helmet laws for cyclists. Riders under 18 are required to wear helmets in Ontario and Alberta. The rest of the country has mandatory helmet laws for all riders.
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