Skid-lid bikers shielded by helmet standards

OFF THE WIRE
Biker Rights Issues

Regulation 366/87 under the Motor Vehicle Act has always been a great mystery to me. The 87 represents the year it was enacted, some 23 years ago.

It was put in place as part of the provincial government's efforts to make motorcycling safer by setting standards for mandatory helmets.

For most of the years it has held sway, however, including the last nine under the current Liberal government, it has had the opposite effect. It shielded riders who chose to wear helmets that offer little or no protection.

That's because the Designation of Motorcycle Helmets Regulation is unenforceable. Rather than defining a standard that helmets have to meet, the regulation is a list of manufacturers and models, which within days of it being posted would have been out of date.

The result is that British Columbia became home of the skid lid, minimalist hard shells that one coroner described as offering no more protection than a salad bowl.

The mystery is why this regulation wasn't changed years ago. I've put this question to a succession of solicitors-general, who all expressed surprise and then promised to look into it. Nothing happened.

I'm not the only one raising the issue. For years, police have been pressing for an enforceable helmet law.

"We're not very successful in court right now," a Vancouver traffic constable told me six years ago. "It's kind of frustrating because you'll see a guy riding a motorcycle and beside him is a guy on a bicycle who has better head protection."

Fixing the regulation would have been simple. We could have copied the one in Alberta, or Ontario, or just about any other jurisdiction that requires helmets and lists industrial standards, such as DOT or Snell, that they have to meet.

So why wasn't it done? Why, when the Liberals appointed a minister in charge of going through all government regulations to eliminate needless and archaic rules, did this toothless title escape scrutiny? Who were the mystery backroom defenders of skid lids?

That mystery may never be solved, but it now looks like the age of the bikers' beanie may soon be over.

In October, the BC Coroners Service reported on a review of 286 motorcycle deaths in the province between 2000 and 2007. The Death Review Panel made nine recommendations, the first of which is that the Motor Vehicle Act be amended so that helmets have to meet one of the common certification standards.

On Thursday, the province finally responded with a promise to bring in changes. Steve Martin, the superintendent of motor vehicles, said only that his office is considering options on helmets. But Solicitor-General Kash Heed, a former policeman, told me on Friday that he intends to outlaw skid lids and to do it this spring.

"I hope to bring legislation in this session that's going to have a helmet law here in British Columbia, one that's going to stand up to the legal challenges," he said in an interview. The new helmet law is planned as part of a package of changes, including more restrictive licensing for young and inexperienced riders and a new emphasis on motorcycle awareness for all motorists.

Will he do it? Good intentions aren't enough in Victoria. New rules covering lobbyists promised several times over several years by former Attorney-General Wally Oppal didn't make the legislative agenda until after he was retired by the voters in the election last year.

But for the first time we have a solicitor-general who at least seems to understand the issue and seems to be making road safety, not just for motorcyclists, but for all users, an important part of his agenda. I hope he can deliver.

cmcinnes@vancouversun.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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