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news
White cycle helmetSikhs in New South Wales seek helmet law exemption
Sikhs living in New South Wales are fighting to have the law changed to exempt members of their community who wear turbans from the state’s compulsory cycle helmet law.
Queensland, South Australia and Victoria do not require Sikhs to wear a helmet while riding a bike, and the campaign for a similar exemption in New South Wales now has the backing of Blacktown Council, reports Dailytelegraph.com.au.
The newspaper says that representatives of the Sikh community presented a petition containing 400 signatures to the council, requesting a change in the law on religious as well as practical grounds.
According to Jagtar Singh, secretary of the Glenwood branch of the Australian Sikh Society, the exemption would enable fellow Sikhs to get to their temple more easily by riding a bike.
“We have a lot of old retired or semi-retired people who live around our temple,” he said.
“They can’t drive the car and there are no buses so it’s easier for them to ride a bike to temple.
“We are not asking to ride on the roads like the M4 or anything like that without a helmet. Most of the bicycles are riding on the footpath.”
He continued: “We have for years been asking every politician who visits the temple for this change.
“During World War I and World War II Sikh people fought without helmets.
“Our community is very law abiding we don’t want to break the law ... what we want is to make it legal.”
In the UK, the Motor-Cycle Crash Helmets (Religious Exemption) Act 1976 "exempts any follower of the Sikh religion while he is wearing a turban" from the obligation to wear a crash helmet.
The law was passed as a result of a private member’s bill from Ealing Southall MP Sidney Bidwell, who had been approached by constituents who felt the requirement to wear a helmet introduced by the Road Traffic Act 1972 infringed their religious freedom.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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16 comments
Quiet heathen, and repent your bare-headed sins to Helmatt the Helmighty.
Hardly a fair comparison - Sikhs generally don't try to force their faith-based beliefs on others by law or threaten disbelievers with the inevitability of God's terrible vengeance. That tends to be a feature of more oppressive faiths (e.g. helmetism and the cult of day-glo).
I'm not surprised they don't want to wear helmets, they are dedicated followers of fashion.
Just a different variety of magic hat, with about the samr evidence base.
I'm sure that a turban would offer more protection than a cycle helmet anyway.
this ^^^^^
A turban would probably pass EN1078 (or whatever the Aussie equivalent is) anyway. I think I'd prefer to wear a turban than a helmet if I had to choose one or the other. No irritating chin strap.
Wouldn’t this work?
http://scrubs.wikia.com/wiki/Hairmet
Surely there's got to be a market for a turban-helmet.
Del Boy did one for the motorbikes after all.
On a more serious note, the guys concerned could simply plonk a plastic bike hat atop of their turbans, perhaps pinning it to the turban. It would look ridiculous but more importantly would show how ridiculous helmet complusion is.
Oh, and why are the bikes on the footpath? Is this OK in Oz?
A battle between helmet law fanatics and religious fanatics.
This could be good.
I am Sikh and tired of helmet stories this week.
The law is one thing, but what do The Rules say?
Cut a hole in the helmet, simple.
Seeing as in Australia there is no evidence to show compulsory law has made any difference to the number of cycling injuries (positive or negative) then why not.
Plus, Sikhs believe strongly in reincarnation, so even if it ends badly .......
I as a pastafarian would like permission to wear my religious head gear instead a cycle helmet as well
Hey, that's cool. If they reckon their god can do the same job as a helmet, why not?