(Nigel Maxwell/paNOW staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Rules of the road

Council ponders mandatory bicycle helmet bylaw

Nov 13, 2019 | 10:55 AM

Prince Albert city council is considering a mandatory bicycle helmet bylaw focused on fighting crime as much as children’s safety.

Coun. Dennis Ogrodnick, who brought the idea to council, said the potential bylaw would increase safety and help reduce crime.

“A resident in my ward brought this forward to me and said this would give the police extra opportunities or power to stop people that are on bikes [with] backpacks, etc. that don’t have helmets,” he told council.

“It would give them just another avenue to make that stop in our neighborhoods, down our back alleys.”

Tuesday night’s discussion took place as council continues to pursue another potential bylaw that would enforce a curfew for the city’s back alleys and walkways.

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Coun. Dennis Nowoselsky said such a bylaw should have been passed years ago.

“One brain injury and the costs that come from that are immense,” he told the meeting.

However, several councillors took issue with the idea.

“We have kids coming to school without food in their bellies, without lunch, without adequate parent[s],” Coun. Ted Zurakowski said. “Now we’re asking them to wear a bike helmet on the way to school — that’s not a barrier I’m prepared to support.”

Mayor Greg Dionne said he raised the possibility a mandatory bicycle helmet bylaw as a means to reduce crime at a recent justice forum he attended. He was told it would be ineffective.

“They totally disagreed with me. They said ‘Do you think if you make that a bylaw that they’re not going to wear a helmet? They’re not going to give the police an opportunity to stop them . . . and violate their rights to search that backpack,” he said.

Ultimately councillors voted to have administration prepare a report on the potential bylaw.

Saskatchewan is one of five provinces and territories that have no laws regarding bicycle helmets. Five provinces enforce them for all ages, while in Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario they are mandatory only for minors.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom