Sign up for the paNOW newsletter

Brain injury association pushes for provincial helmet legislation

May 22, 2017 | 7:14 PM

One cyclist dies almost every day and of those, 90 per cent were not wearing a helmet.

This is according to Glenda James, executive director of the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association and why she works to raise awareness around the simple act of wearing a helmet.

“The costs of brain injury are horrendous to the whole system,” James said. “Many people think ‘It can’t happen to me,’ when in fact, it is the number one cause of disability and death for young people.”

Though wearing a helmet does not guarantee immunity to brain injury, it does mitigate one’s risk by 88 per cent.

“When something with a $25 price tag can improve your odds by 88 per cent, I question, why one would not do that.” James said.

But when Saskatchewan is the only province without any form of helmet legislation, this can be difficult to enforce.

Although there are numerous education programs and bicycle rodeos held in communities to promote safety, James said when “legislation comes in, it makes a statement.” James believed the lack of legislation in the province was likely ‘cultural.’

“It often comes down to we will do it our own way, because so much of our province is rural…there seems to be a resistance to being told what to do,” she explained. 

She said similar resistance was seen with seat belt, smoking and car seat legislation but now it’s accepted practice.

As those between the ages of 15 and 45 were most effected by brain injury, James did not think “risking our young people is worth the arguments put up against [legislation].”  

“Let us stop and see that the safety issue around brain injury is life impacting,” she said. “The actual fact is that a brain injury is such a major change in your life and is it really worth the risk of not wearing a helmet?”

 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr