Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 03/02) - Gary Tait still smiles with a full set of teeth today, but it's only because he wears a bicycle helmet.

He wears the helmet of his own free will, because he says it protects him. But if some city councillors get their way, everyone in town who rides a bicycle will have to wear a helmet -- and pay a hefty fine if caught without.

However, the proposed bylaw is currently on hold while council re-examines its wording. It could be brought up for first reading again as soon as April 8.

Tait almost killed his smile when he flipped face-first over his handlebars while cycling the Frame Lake trail a few years ago.

He did a face-plant into the granite, but his $320 helmet comes equipped with a jaw protector. His only injury from the landing: a scrape on the bridge of his nose.

Without a helmet, "the least I would have done is knocked out a lot of teeth and broken a jaw," he said.

Anecdotes like his are propelling some councillors to require helmets for all bike riders. The currently proposed fine is $50 for non-compliance.

But the requirement doesn't have universal support. Coun. Dave Ramsay said it was "crazy" for council to require adults to wear a helmet.

Coun. Alan Woytuik argued that creating bike helmet legislation could put council on a slippery slope to much more serious requirements. "With the shootings going on in schools, the next thing you know we're going to pass a bylaw that every kid going to school has to wear a flak-jacket," he said.

Safety concerns

Coun. Dave McCann disagreed, calling it a matter of public safety.

"Essentially medical realities drive these kinds of decisions," he said. "The medical people I've met tell me that head injuries are reduced about 75 per cent in cyclists, and that's quite dramatic."

Council discussed the bylaw on Monday. However, difficulties with the entire Highway Traffic bylaw -- of which helmet legislation would be part -- caused councillors to vote unanimously to send the bylaw back to committee. Even so, the bylaw is likely to pass since Ramsay and Woytuik were the only councillors who expressed strong opposition.

At committee, Coun. Blake Lyons hopes to change the bylaw's wording. As he reads it, the current bylaw would force a seven-year-old to pay $50 if she wasn't wearing a helmet -- and her parents would have to pay another $50.

"I think the term 'draconian' was used, and that's a fair application in this case," he said.

No other NWT municipality currently requires wearing bicycle helmets. British Columbia, Nova Scotia and News Brunswick mandate their use for all riders. In Ontario only those below 18 need wear helmets and in Manitoba only those five and under are required.

Bicycle helmets cost between $40 and $320, said Tait, who is an assistant manager at Overlander Sports. They work by absorbing the energy of a crash, protecting the head.

Tait thinks helmet legislation is a good idea, but has one word of caution: "it's hard to enforce," he said.