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Lords debate on helmet amendment (long)
(Amendment withdrawn by proposer)
Lord Swinfen moved Amendment No. 59: After Clause 43, insert the following new clause— "CAUSING OR PERMITTING CHILD UNDER 14 TO RIDE A CYCLE ON ROAD WITHOUT PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR (1) Except as provided by regulations, it is an offence for any person to whom this subsection applies to cause or permit a child under the age of 14 years to ride a cycle on a road unless the child is wearing protective headgear, of such description as may be specified in regulations, in such manner as may be so specified. (2) Subsection (1) applies to the following persons— (a) unless the child is cycling in the course of his employment, any person who— (i) for the purposes of Part I of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (c. 12), has responsibility for the child; (ii) for the purposes of Part II of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 (c. 37), has parental responsibilities (within the meaning given by section 1(3) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 36)) in relation to, or has charge or care of, the child; (iii) for the purposes of article 5 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/755 (N.I. 2)), has parental responsibilities in relation to the child; (iv) (in relation to Northern Ireland) has care of the child or is, otherwise than by virtue of article 5 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, legally obliged to maintain the child; (b) any person other than a person mentioned in paragraph (a) above who is above the age of 15 years and who has custody of or is in possession of the cycle immediately before the child rides it; * 29 Nov 2005 : Column 160 * (c) where the child is employed and is cycling in the course of his employment, his employer and any other person to whose orders the child is subject in the course of his employment. (3) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) above is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale. (4) In this section— "regulations" means regulations under section (Regulations in relation to section (Causing or permitting child under 14 to ride a cycle on road without protective headgear)); and "road" has— (a) in England and Wales the meaning given by section 192(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988; (b) in Scotland the meaning given by section 15(1) of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 (c. 54); and (c) in Northern Ireland the meaning given by article 1(2) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2994 (N.I.)). (5) In this section and section (Regulations in relation to section (Causing or permitting child under 14 to ride a cycle on road without protective headgear)) "cycle" means a monocycle, a bicycle, a tricycle, or a cycle having four or more wheels, not being in any case a motor vehicle." The noble Lord said: My Lords, in moving Amendment No. 59, I shall speak also to Amendment No. 60. Amendment No. 60 empowers the Secretary of State to make the regulations needed for the effective operation of the new clause to be inserted by Amendment No. 59. These amendments are not the same as those that I moved in Committee. The age at which a child must wear protective headgear has been altered to children under 14, which will bring the law on children riding cycles into line with the law on children riding horses, as laid out in the Horses (Protective Headgear for Young Riders) Act 1990. In Committee, the Minister said that he was concerned that the compulsory wearing of a helmet would put children off cycling. I am not aware that that happened with riding horses. I rather think that the number of children riding horses and ponies has increased since the wearing of protective headgear became compulsory. Children will still wish to cycle. It gives them a measure of independence that they crave. The Minister said that increased exercise is a major part of the Government's strategy to deal with obesity. I strongly agree that children should exercise, but it must be done safely. The wearing of protective headgear by children is compulsory in Australia, and when I was there earlier this year, I saw crowds of children happily riding around on their bicycles, all wearing protective headgear. It does not seem to have put them off in the least. I now turn to the question of liability. I have given the matter some more thought. I think the Government's concerns on liability are misplaced, even if the amendments were to be left as they were in Committee. That is because the accused must have caused or permitted the child to have ridden the cycle. In most cases, I imagine that only one person could have caused or permitted it to happen. In a case where a child leaves the house with his parents, not knowing whether he will ride a bike or not, and then borrows a bike from an adult, it is clear who caused or permitted * 29 Nov 2005 : Column 161 * it to happen. On the other hand, if the parents allow him out without a helmet, it is also clear. If the child leaves the house with a helmet on, and then takes it off, the parents cannot be said to have caused or permitted it to happen, unless they told him that he could remove it. Nevertheless, I have altered the amendments by leaving out the provision relating to the ownership of the bike. I have also provided for employers by requiring that the cycling must be in the course of the child's employment. I beg to move. The Earl of Listowel: My Lords, I have put my name to this amendment. I strongly support what the noble Lord, Lord Swinfen, said. Her Majesty's Government are encouraging children and young people to cycle through their Safer Routes to Schools initiative and their advice to local authorities. They wish more children to cycle, for understandable reasons. But with that encouragement comes a responsibility for the Government to take all reasonable measures to protect children from harm. Yesterday, I spoke with a paediatric nurse who is caring for a 13 year-old who fell from his bike, smashed the front of his head and damaged his frontal lobes. He is now unable to manage his emotions and is subject to outbreaks of rage. A friend of mine at school, who I used to cycle with, came off his bicycle. He called me to the hospital, and when I arrived, he had forgotten that he had called me. He experience concussion. His personality changed following his injury. Some years later, he developed a bipolar emotional disorder—manic depression—that may be associated with that trauma. The overwhelming case is that helmets protect individuals from injury to the brain and that they are particularly effective in protecting children from brain injury. As the noble Lord, Lord Swinfen, said, we are all concerned that children should take more exercise. I believe that obesity in children has increased by one-fifth in the past 10 years. The evidence about whether the introduction of cycle helmets in other countries has discouraged or encouraged children and adults to cycle is not clear either way. I remember visiting a Halfords store this summer and seeing a child with his mother. She was speaking to his father on her mobile phone, asking whether they should buy the larger bike. The message from the father was that they should get the larger bike. The boy was jumping up and down with joy at the prospect of buying a new bicycle. When I look in the park and observe children, I have to say, as the noble Lord, Lord Swinfen, said, that bicycles are so attractive to children that it seems very unlikely that a significant number of them will be put off simply because they have to wear a helmet. On the question of enforcement, when the Home Office was discussing this, a two-year plan was proposed. The first year would focus heavily on education, promoting bicycle safety and the wearing of cycle helmets. The second year would involve law enforcement officers. When they saw groups of children, they would warn them that in a year's time, it would be against the law for them not to wear a cycle helmet. Then, once the law was put in place, letters * 29 Nov 2005 : Column 162 * would be sent to parents asking them to purchase a helmet and send a receipt to the office to prove it, or else they would receive other warnings. Twenty states in the United States, Norway, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, as well as several other countries, have introduced these laws. The Government are actively encouraging children and young people to cycle more. For understandable reasons, we have a low usage of cycles in this country. We have a responsibility to take reasonable measures to protect children from harm. When parents and children are consulted about this, they favour a law to make cycle helmets mandatory. The Bill will provide that careless drivers who kill with no intention to do so can be sentenced to a maximum of five years' imprisonment. The Government have set aside 150 prison spaces to cater for them. Those people are harming adults and children unwittingly so, with the greatest respect to the Minister, it seems somewhat ironic that the Government are encouraging children and young people on to the streets on bicycles without taking all reasonable precautions to keep them from harm. I look forward to the Minister's response. Lord Monson: My Lords, I am sorry to have missed the opening remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Swinfen; it was entirely because of the contretemps over Amendment No. 58A. I told my noble friend Lord Listowel yesterday that unfortunately I would not be able to support his amendment, though I pay tribute to his arguments today. As might be expected, I oppose it mainly on libertarian grounds, but on practical rather than on purist libertarian grounds. People of my generation cycled every bit as much when we were 11, 12 or 13 as children of that age group do today—probably more so, since there were fewer forms of alternative transport available. Neither I nor any of my great many friends and acquaintances ever suffered anything worse than a grazed knee. If children were falling onto their heads from bicycles in their hundreds every day of the week, I might think rather differently. But that does not appear to be the case, despite the moving example produced by my noble friend. One should not erode— The Earl of Listowel: My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the estimate for the number of children going to hospital each year with head injuries following a cycling accident is put very roughly at 26,000? I hope that may be helpful to my noble friend. Lord Monson: My Lords, of course it is helpful, but we do not know how many of those accidents involve the head, how serious the injuries were, and, indeed, what proportion of the total number of child cyclists it represents. I appreciate, none the less, what my noble friend says, but I do not think that human freedom should be eroded in order to save the occasional individual injury. * 29 Nov 2005 : Column 163 ** There is one other point. The amendment extends, rather surprisingly, to tricycles, which surely are much safer than bicycles. I should not have thought that was necessary. However, that is for the sponsors of the amendment to answer. There is a further practical objection, which has been touched on obliquely by the noble Lord, Lord Swinfen. The law requiring equestrians under the age of 14 to wear protective headgear when riding on a public highway is sometimes prayed in aid, but realistically it is difficult—not impossible but difficult—for someone of that age to go riding without adult input or, at any rate, adult co-operation. The horse has to be stabled or, if not stabled, kept in a paddock owned by an adult. It has to be watered and fed daily. The bridle, saddle and other tack has to be provided and kept in good working order. So it is fairly unlikely that a child under the age of 14 would ride out on a public highway without the knowledge of the parent or the guardian. How very different where the bike is concerned. A 12 or 13-year old could grab his bike and zoom off out of sight of older members of his family in no time at all, and children of that age nowadays take instructions from their parents with a giant pinch of salt. For all those reasons I believe that the amendment is misconceived. The Countess of Mar: My Lords, I too missed the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Swinfen, in the Chamber, but I heard it upstairs. I used to work in what we used to call the "blood and bones" department of our local hospital. I saw first-hand a number of children with severe head injuries who had fallen or been knocked off their bicycles. That has left a very strong impression on me. My two granddaughters, who might, not disparagingly, be described as rather vain little girls, are very happy to wear cycle helmets when they ride their bicycles, so there is no objection from them. Just as children will remind their parents to fasten their seatbelts, and they religiously wear their seatbelts in the back seats of cars when adults do not, I think that children can be encouraged to wear safety helmets. I would very much like to see this become law. Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, I am not competent to take a close view on the validity of the amendment as it is written and its practicality, but I should simply like to follow the noble Countess in her remarks about trying to create an atmosphere, a culture if you like, in which young people automatically wear helmets when cycling. Cycling is extremely dangerous. Cyclists are the least well defended users of the highway—unless horsemen are even less well defended, because there are a great many riders' accidents. It would be extremely advantageous if we could cultivate a way of making sure that, in the same way as they use their seatbelts, children put on a hard hat when cycling. For * 29 Nov 2005 : Column 164 * that reason, were the noble Lords to take the amendment to a vote, I should be extremely tempted to support them. The Earl of Erroll: My Lords, while I think the amendment is extremely well meaning and that it is a very good idea for people to take proper safety measures, whatever it is they are doing that is dangerous, I am against compulsion. There are two sides to it. First, there is enough compulsion about things in life, and it should be up to individuals largely to decide. Children, I realise, are not mentally experienced enough to always make correct decisions, but they can be influenced very strongly by their parents. That brings me on to the business about permission—who is liable? Living in the country, our children go in and out and pop on a bicycle. They may decide to unlock the bike shed and get one out. We have no idea really what they are up to, where or when. They come and go as they please. On the practicality of suggesting they should be checked every time they want to go on a bike ride or whatever, they have general permission to use their bicycles. I am not quite sure how parents like us, who have a relaxed attitude to the comings and goings of their children, would fare on this. So I feel that that is probably the biggest downside. I do not like the potential liability and the potential chance for some person in authority to bully adults about their children's behaviour when maybe the adult has not been in a position to do much about it. I do not think that we should over control society. The real fact of the matter is that we are more likely to die of a heart attack, cancer or a stroke, or something related to that. Your chances of being damaged badly in an accident realistically are very low. Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have contributed to the debate. Of course I share the objectives of the noble Lord, Lord Swinfen, who moved the amendment, that we want to improve the safety of our young cyclists. That is exactly what we have been doing. Taking the period of 1994 to 1998 as a baseline, we have reduced deaths and serious injury for child cyclists by 49 per cent. So no one should underestimate the Government's commitment to improving safety for our children. We intend to improve on that position. We are not complacent. I want to emphasise that of course this improvement in the statistics is a reflection of a whole plethora of measures that we have taken to improve child cyclists' safety. Our programme includes the education of children and their carers, the education of drivers to take more care about child cyclists, publicity, better child cycle training and improved infrastructure to increase the opportunities for them to cycle safely on our roads and cycle paths. We include in that the promotion of the wearing of helmets because we are not going to contend with noble Lords the fact that the wearing of the helmet is a help to a cyclist if he has a serious accident and lands on his head. So we are at one with noble Lords in this respect. * 29 Nov 2005 : Column 165 ** We know from regular monitoring of helmet wearing that there is a long way to go to increase such wearing. Boys are most reluctant to wear helmets. Set against a generally rising trend, the wearing rate for boys has gone down from 15 per cent in 1994 to 11 per cent in 2004. For girls, the wearing rate has risen to 26 per cent. Inevitably, a large proportion of those not wearing helmets are young adolescents who have accidents. That points to the nature of the difficulty: we start from a low base. I take on board the representations made by the noble Lord, Lord Monson, and the noble Earl, Lord Errol, on the question of personal responsibility; I shall also comment on their points about who is liable in a moment. The problem with the amendment is that we are starting from such a low base, but it would move us up to 100 per cent by law. We cannot safely promote legislation on that basis now. We are aware of the contribution that the wearing of cycle helmets can make to road safety, but to move from a position of low acceptance of that need to 100 per cent compulsion is a significant leap that we do not think is justified. *6.30 pm We have reservations on the issue of liability. I heard the noble Lord, Lord Swinfen, say that he had listened to my remarks in Committee and I am grateful to him for having done that. I addressed the issue of liability. But the noble Lord, Lord Monson, is right: it is not easy to identify who is liable. It is not clear who, if anyone, will be responsible for the crucial offence of causing or permitting the offence from the range of persons listed in the amendment. Suppose that a child cycles home from school. Are the parents responsible or is the school responsible? Is the school responsible as the person who has custody or possession of the bike before the child rides home? What if the school has a rule that helmets must be worn but the child does not wear one? Where does responsibility lie? We honestly think that there are real problems about ambiguity and who will be responsible. That will always be a question of fact in the circumstances. They are overlapping responsibilities. It may not be clear whether the school or the parent is responsible in such cases. I recognise that noble Lords will be disappointed by my response. I know that others share their views. The measure was introduced in a Private Member's Bill in the other place last year. The Government will not renege on our major commitment to improving child cycling safety, but we do not think that compulsion at this stage would produce the results that we want. We will keep a watchful and monitoring eye on the situation. I hope that the noble Lord will accept that the Government will not fail in our commitment to improve child cycling safety statistics and, on that basis, will feel able to withdraw his amendment. The Earl of Listowel: My Lords, before the Minister sits down, is he aware of research from Australia undertaken by McDermott in which, at secondary school level, before education on bicycle safety, 2 per cent of those cyclists were wearing helmets; after education, 11 per cent were; but, after legislation, * 29 Nov 2005 : Column 166 * 42 per cent of secondary schoolchildren were wearing helmets? There was an even more remarkable response from primary schools. Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, if I was not aware of it before, I am now. However, the noble Earl will recognise that if 42 per cent are compliant, the Australians, or that particular state, have a law that the majority of young cyclists are not obeying. In this country, we are concerned about obedience to the law. In fact, the great strength of our safety measures is that we do not propose laws that people can then safely and easily ignore; we propose laws by which we expect people to abide. That is why, as I have argued before, the driving test requirements in this country are so much more stringent than elsewhere in the world. We expect people to reach that level of competence. The same thing applies to observation of the law. As the noble Earl will freely concede, driving conditions in much of Australia are somewhat different, given the vastly greater population of people in crowded islands. We must address things differently. I hope that he will accept that, although I recognise his statistics, I would not take any joy in a law that the majority of our fellow citizens disregarded. Lord Swinfen: My Lords, the Minister's last remarks are very interesting, bearing in mind adherence to the law on seatbelts. To start with, very few people wore their seatbelts. To start with, it was not compulsory in the back of a car. It now is. If the Minister is fortunate enough to get an empty taxi to take him home tonight, he will find that there is a notice in the back of the taxi telling him that it is against the law not to wear his seatbelt. So the situation changes. It changes with education, I agree—in this respect, education of children on cycles—but in the past it has changed with education of adults in their motor vehicles. The Minister asked: who is responsible for ensuring that the child wears a helmet? In a car, the driver of the car is responsible for the passengers wearing a seatbelt, as well as himself. With children, the noble Lord, Lord Naseby, said that his children took their bicycles when they wanted to go out. When my children were young, there were standard instructions and rules that they had to obey, and they were in trouble if they did not. There can be a standing instruction that whenever they take their bicycles, they wear a helmet. That is not difficult. I know that children do not always obey their parents—I quite agree about that—but it is not difficult to lay down boundaries that they are not supposed to cross. Those boundaries get relaxed as the children get bigger. Later on, they are allowed out beyond nine o'clock at night, and so on. But with small children, you can lay down the rule that they must wear helmets and they are in trouble—sent to their beds, or whatever—if they disobey that rule. Also, schools can lay down school rules that children leaving school or riding around in school must wear a helmet or they will be punished. The noble Lord, Lord Monson, said that he did not support the amendment because 100 or so children might die or * 29 Nov 2005 : Column 167 * have a head injury every year if they did not have a helmet. The noble Earl, Lord Listowel, pointed out to him that 26,000 children were injured with head injuries every year, which is a rather different figure. The noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, said that it was good to create a culture of helmet wearing. I agree. As I said, in Australia, compulsion is creating a culture in which children are out wearing their helmets the whole time. Any new law takes time to bed down and for everyone to obey it because not everyone is aware of it. The Minister pointed out that the percentage of boys wearing a helmet has reduced recently. That is a very good reason for making it compulsory. He also said that we would be starting from a low base and that we would need to move immediately to 100 per cent wearing of helmets. The argument about helmets applies in exactly the same direction as the argument that the Government used on drivers' use of mobile phones, so that point will not wash. However, my noble friend Lady Hanham has put to me the argument, which she did not reiterate today, that my amendment would make children criminals. I shall look at that before Third Reading because I do not wish to make children criminals if I can help it. But it is important that we make it compulsory for children under 14 to wear protective headgear. I will reserve my right to bring the matter before your Lordships' House at Third Reading. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Guy -- http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk "To every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken |
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Lords debate on helmet amendment (long)
On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 18:39:07 +0000, Just zis Guy, you know? quoted Hansard:
(Amendment withdrawn by proposer) "CAUSING OR PERMITTING CHILD UNDER 14 TO RIDE A CYCLE ON ROAD WITHOUT PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR It's somewhat easier to follow he http://www.publications.parliament.u...t/51129-18.htm And this is very worrying IMO Baroness Thomas of Walliswood: My Lords, [....] Cycling is extremely dangerous. Mike |
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Lords debate on helmet amendment (long)
Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
(Amendment withdrawn by proposer) I read it with my head in my hands. Its on a knife edge and its coming back for a third attempt by Lord Swinfen to get it through. I wonder whether helmet threads will get such a groan and move on response if it does get through. -- Tony "The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham |
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Lords debate on helmet amendment (long)
in message
pan.2005.11.30.19.13.43.836022@firstnamelastname. com.invalid, Mike Causer ') wrote: On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 18:39:07 +0000, Just zis Guy, you know? quoted Hansard: (Amendment withdrawn by proposer) "CAUSING OR PERMITTING CHILD UNDER 14 TO RIDE A CYCLE ON ROAD WITHOUT PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR It's somewhat easier to follow he http://www.publications.parliament.u...t/51129-18.htm And this is very worrying IMO With the House of Commons, one can, of course, write to one's MP. How does one write to one's Lord? How does one determine which Lord to write to, to have optimum effect? -- (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ "The result is a language that... not even its mother could love. Like the camel, Common Lisp is a horse designed by committee. Camels do have their uses." ;; Scott Fahlman, 7 March 1995 |
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Lords debate on helmet amendment (long)
On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 20:14:39 +0000, Tony Raven
said in : I read it with my head in my hands. Its on a knife edge and its coming back for a third attempt by Lord Swinfen to get it through. I wonder whether helmet threads will get such a groan and move on response if it does get through. What's worse is that at least one of those speaking for the amendment quoted injury figures he had been told had no known basis in fact, much less being serious enough to be a legitimate source of public concern. Guy -- http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk "To every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken |
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Lords debate on helmet amendment (long)
Simon Brooke wrote:
With the House of Commons, one can, of course, write to one's MP. Postcode lottery! Postcode lottery! How does one write to one's Lord? How does one determine which Lord to write to, to have optimum effect? One might start by looking at the record of who has attended relevant debates: they might have some interest in the subject. A bit more research and one might find some bony fido cyclists amongst their lardships. But perhaps more effective would be to get at the press. Lobby Boris, not in his capacity as an MP (he's sure to be anti- compulsion anyway), but as a journalist. -- not me guv |
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Lords debate on helmet amendment (long)
On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 20:48:58 +0000, Simon Brooke
wrote: in message pan.2005.11.30.19.13.43.836022@firstnamelastname .com.invalid, Mike Causer ') wrote: On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 18:39:07 +0000, Just zis Guy, you know? quoted Hansard: (Amendment withdrawn by proposer) "CAUSING OR PERMITTING CHILD UNDER 14 TO RIDE A CYCLE ON ROAD WITHOUT PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR It's somewhat easier to follow he http://www.publications.parliament.u...t/51129-18.htm And this is very worrying IMO With the House of Commons, one can, of course, write to one's MP. How does one write to one's Lord? How does one determine which Lord to write to, to have optimum effect? Perhaps you could copy the email to them all. |
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Lords debate on helmet amendment (long)
As an"always" helmet wearer, I find this sort of uninformed potential
legislation frightening. It is, unfortunately, probably inevitable that enforcement will happen ( I wear mine for "insurance claims" all the time and as a head warmer in winter) Reading the report is quite frightening -- and also the result is unenforceable. -- Trevor A Panther In South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. Remove PSANTISPAM to reply "Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote in message ... On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 20:14:39 +0000, Tony Raven said in : I read it with my head in my hands. Its on a knife edge and its coming back for a third attempt by Lord Swinfen to get it through. I wonder whether helmet threads will get such a groan and move on response if it does get through. What's worse is that at least one of those speaking for the amendment quoted injury figures he had been told had no known basis in fact, much less being serious enough to be a legitimate source of public concern. Guy -- http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk "To every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken |
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Lords debate on helmet amendment (long)
Just zis Guy, you know? wrote: On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 20:14:39 +0000, Tony Raven said in : I read it with my head in my hands. Its on a knife edge and its coming back for a third attempt by Lord Swinfen to get it through. I wonder whether helmet threads will get such a groan and move on response if it does get through. What's worse is that at least one of those speaking for the amendment quoted injury figures he had been told had no known basis in fact, much less being serious enough to be a legitimate source of public concern. Which Lord? I am writing to my MP on this and would like to be able to 'point the finger' as it were. If it is a health issue, then surely it is not a reserved matter. The jist of my letter will be: Noted the debate and lack of sense of proportion Concerned as a parent of three, motorist, cyclist and scientist. Absolute numbers (about the same as those for kids running into football goal posts) are not worthy of intervention if not also insisting that kids wear hats just running about. Scale of KSI are almost entirely due to motor vehicles. Accidents (not just cyclists) reduced very effectively by slowing down vehicles (eg Hull and the Scottish experience of 20mph outside schools) and effective in mainland Europe by presumption of fault by insisting that those with the greatest potential to casue harm take the greater proportion of responsibility. And noting that it is better to teach risk assessment to use safety equipment where appropriate, rather than a legislated blind faith, using them where they are not certified. (if they are legislating for helmets to prevent injuries in crashes with motor vehicles, they will have a hard time finding any that are certified for such.) And the practicality of such a law, as raised in the Lords. Also request the introduction of very stiff penalties for leaving the scene of an accident. Fit the main points into one page and post.. I'll draft one now and get it in the post by the weekend. ...d |
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Lords debate on helmet amendment (long)
Pinky wrote:
I wear mine for "insurance claims" all the time and as a head warmer in winter) Not that any insurance company has ever been able to reduce a claim in Court through lack of helmet wearing. A Buff keeps my head warm in winter now and it covers my ears too! -- Tony "The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham |
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