|
Bicycle helmets have been mandatory in New Zealand since January, 1994.〔("Helmet Laws for Bicycle Riders" ) Retrieved 2012-02-04〕 The statute, delineated in Part 11 of the Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 (SR 2004/427), states that "A person must not ride, or be carried on, a bicycle on a road unless the person is wearing a safety helmet of an approved standard that is securely fastened." The law describes six different acceptable helmet standards.〔("New Zealand Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004(SR 2004/427)" ) Retrieved 2012-02-04.〕 Violating the law can result in a $55 infringement fee and a maximum $1,000 penalty on summary conviction.〔("Land Transport (Offences and Penalties) Regulations 1999 (SR 1999/99) (as at 20 October 2011)" ) Retrieved 2012-02-06〕 Exemptions to the law may be granted on "grounds of religious belief or physical disability or other reasonable grounds."〔 58 of 69 applications for exemption were granted prior to 2000.〔Dearnaley, Mathew ("Cycling advocate ends his helmet headache" ), The New Zealand Herald. 2 June 2004. Retrieved 5 February 2012.〕 Reportedly between 6000 and 10000 cyclists a year are stopped and fined by police for riding without a helmet.〔Cycle safe: 10,000 fined for no helmet, some get speeding tickets. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11185288〕 A 2011 survey by the New Zealand Ministry of Transport found the national cycle helmet wearing rate, covering all age groups, to be 93%, the same as found in 2010 and comparable to the 92% rate seen in 2007–2009.〔http://www.transport.govt.nz/research/Cyclehelmetuse2011/ Cycle helmet use: Results of national survey, March/April 2011 Retrieved 2012-02-04〕 ==History== The mandatory helmet law had its genesis in the late 1980s when Rebecca Oaten, dubbed the "helmet lady" in the media, started a campaign advocating for compulsory helmets. Her son, Aaron, had been permanently brain damaged in 1986 while riding his 10-speed bicycle to school in Palmerston North. A car driver hit him, flinging Aaron over the handlebars and headfirst to the ground,〔Price, Christel. "The legacy of a life", The Guardian (Manawatu), 26 August 2010.〕 where his head struck the concrete gutter. After 8 months in a coma, Aaron awoke paralysed and unable to speak. According to Oaten, a doctor at the time told her that Aaron would "almost certainly not have suffered brain damage" had he been wearing a bicycle helmet.〔Mullins, Justin.("Hard-Headed Choice" ), New Scientist, 22 July 2000. Retrieved 2010-08-29.〕 In the late 1980s and early 1990s Oaten travelled the country promoting the use of cycle helmets. For six years she visited an average of four schools a day, "lambasting" children with reasons why they should wear helmets. She also set up a lobby group, the Protect the Brains trust, which spread nationwide and put pressure on the government for a bicycle helmet law.〔 Oaten's campaigning is commonly perceived as the main impetus for the law compelling all ages of people on bicycles to wear helmets. Aaron Oaten died on 14 August 2010, aged 37.〔〔 Following Oaten's campaigning, the then Transport Minister introduced helmet legislation without debate in Parliament or select committee hearing. This lack of process in legislation and subsequent effects (or lack thereof) has led commentators to label New Zealand's helmet legislation (and its Australian equivalent) a 'failed experiment'. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bicycle helmets in New Zealand」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|