Bike riders without helmets risking $227 fine

Warrnambool police Sergeant Paul McGovern said the on-the-spot fine was $227.

"Everyone has to wear a bike helmet on a bike or scooter and we have seen lots of people without them recently," he said.

"Police can and will issue fines for failing to wear a securely fitted and approved bike helmet.

"All riders can consider this message as their final warning."

Sergeant McGovern said an elderly male cyclist had already been killed in a collision with a heavy vehicle during February in north Warrnambool.

"During COVID a lot of people went out and bought bikes and they are now riding them," he said.

"That's great, but everyone needs to be wearing helmets for their own safety.

"This issue is not just confined to kids. I saw a father with a young child near the intersection of Banyan and Timor streets in Warrnambool on Thursday and neither had on a helmet.

"That's just crazy.

"People can and do fall off bikes and scooters and injure themselves."

The sergeant said the extent of the problem was so widespread police were considering running an operation to target riders without helmets.

"This is a reminder to people - if you are riding a bike you must wear a helmet, otherwise you risk being issued with a $227 fine," he said.

"Most of the riders we see flaunting the rules are social riders, not those more serious riders wearing Lycra," he said.

All bike and scooter riders are required to wear a bike helmet in Victoria according to the VicRoads website.

Mandatory bicycle helmet laws were introduced in July 1990 and apply to anyone riding on roads, shared paths, in bike lanes, in recreational parks, car parks and on footpaths.

Research indicates that bike helmets greatly reduce the risk of head injuries, which are the major cause of death and injury to bike riders.

A comprehensive review of 40 studies was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology in 2016 and found that bicycle helmets reduce the chances of a serious head injury by almost 70 per cent.

Two years after introducing bicycle helmet laws in 1990 there was a 16 per cent reduction in head injuries in metropolitan Melbourne and a 23 per cent reduction in head injuries in Victoria.

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