Letter to the Greens MP

Letter to the Maroubra MP

And draft below but it is out of date. (Ignore it.)

MY ADDRRESS
DATE

The Hon Mr Michael Daley, MP
Member for Maroubra, New South Wales

PO Box 535
MAROUBRA NSW 2035

RE: Exemptions to the requirement to wear a helmet while cycling

Dear Mr Daley,

I am writing to bring to your attention the need for exemptions to the requirement to wear a helmet while cycling in New South Wales.

Although cyclists must wear AS/NZS 2063-compliant helmets throughout Australia, some States and Territories provide exemptions on the grounds of culture, religion, age, infrastructure or medical reasons. In New South Wales, however, there are no exemptions. This inconveniences members of certain cultural, religious and age groups, as well as persons suffering particular medical conditions.

I humbly request that you raise in the Parliament of New South Wales or raise directly with the Transport Minister the need to amend legislation to allow bicycle helmet exemptions for cyclists who satisfy certain criteria such as

  • being a member of a religious or cultural group and wearing a type of headdress customarily worn by members of the group that makes it impractical to wear a bicycle helmet (as in Queensland, Western Australia, and Victoria[^vic]), or
  • being a member of the Sikh religion who is wearing a turban (as in South Australia[^sa]),

or

  • being unable to wear a bicycle helmet for medical reasons (as in Queensland[^qld] and Western Australia[^wa]),
  • having a physical characteristic which makes it unreasonable to require the person to wear a bicycle helmet (as in Queensland),
  • being over 17 years of age and riding in a public place, on a bicycle path separated from the part of the road used by motor vehicles by a physical structure or barrier, or on a shared path (as in the Northern Territory[^nt]), or
  • being issued a certificate by a government authority stating that it would be impractical, undesirable or inexpedient that the person named in the certificate wear a bicycle helmet while riding on a bicycle (as in Victoria).

Additionally, the climate in New South Wales has high UV radiation levels, with wide-brimmed hats (wider than 7cm) recommended for outdoor workers' health and safety. Unfortunately an equivalent safety-tested helmet attachment is not available, with custom attachments being untested, unsafe, and illegal. Additionally, during winter, helmets do not adequately protect riders' ears from the cold and wind. Therefore I also ask you to raise the need for an exemption for cyclists if they

  • are wearing a wide-brimmed hat, or
  • are wearing a warm winter hat between April and October.

These exemptions should all extend to bicycle passengers.

Alternatively, Parliament could repeal the whole section 256 of ROAD RULES 2014, thus leaving the bicycle helmet wearing non-compulsory and optional at all times.

Yours faithfully,

MY NAME

[^qld]: Queensland - TRANSPORT OPERATIONS (ROAD USE MANAGEMENT—ROAD RULES) REGULATION 2009 - SECT 256

[^wa]: Western Australia - ROAD TRAFFIC CODE 2000 - REG 222

[^sa]: South Australia - AUSTRALIAN ROAD RULES - REG 256, ROAD TRAFFIC (ROAD RULES--ANCILLARY AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) REGULATIONS 2014 - REG 34

[^nt]: Northern Territory - TRAFFIC REGULATIONS - REG 86

[^tas]: Tasmania - ROAD RULES 2009 - REG 256

[^vic]: Victoria - ROAD SAFETY ROAD RULES 2009 - REG 256