A letter to the editor in last week’s edition of the Fitzhugh highlighted the apparently inconsistent manner that the provincial law requiring cyclists under the age of 18 to wear helmets is being enforced in Jasper.

The letter writer, Lynda Knight, took exception to a specific incident she witnessed, in which she claims a bylaw officer “apprehended” a group of girls riding without helmets but singled one girl out. This girl, Knight wrote, received “markedly different treatment” than the others, including having her bicycle seized and being subjected to “unreasonably aggressive and threatening words and actions” from the officer. Mayor Richard Ireland later confirmed that the municipality had received a formal complaint about the incident and an investigation into it was underway.

Until the facts are clarified, it is difficult to comment fairly on the specifics of what happened in this one particular case. But the more general point that Knight raised in her letter certainly warrants some discussion right now.

The helmet law, she noted, “is indisputably enforced neither wholly nor equally in our town, as on any given day dozens of minors can be seen biking and skateboarding freely without helmets on their heads.” And, judging by the Fitzhugh’s online poll, many residents seem to agree. As of this writing, 86 per cent of respondents said they believe that “bylaw officers have been inconsistent when enforcing the helmet law.” An unscientific poll, yes, but nevertheless a rough gauge of public sentiment.

For two reasons, however, it seems unfair to place all the blame for inconsistent enforcement on bylaw officers or municipal officials.

Firstly, as a matter of practice, it would be virtually impossible to enforce the law in a truly consistent way. Due to limited resources, officers will at best be able to catch only a small proportion of young cyclists riding without helmets on any given day. And, for those that they do catch, there ought to be some room for officers to exercise discretion when deciding exactly how to handle a particular situation — within reason, of course.

Secondly, as a matter of principle, it’s hard to consistently enforce a law that is so inherently inconsistent, itself. We’re talking here about the way the law applies differently depending on a cyclist’s age. It sends a fundamentally mixed message to say it’s mandatory for minors to wear helmets but adults are merely “encouraged” to do so.

It also flies in the face of available evidence, if the goal is to truly encourage more helmet use among kids. A 2006 study published in the journal Pediatrics, for example, found that children were nine times more likely to wear helmets when riding with helmeted adults. “Efforts need to be made toward improving adult helmet use and children’s perceptions and attitudes toward helmet use,” the authors concluded.

And so while Jasper residents have reason to be concerned about the way this law is being enforced locally, it would be prudent to look more broadly at the way the law was designed and written in the first place.  That’s not to say, necessarily, that helmets ought to be mandatory for all cyclists. This is the law in B.C., for example, and there have been some valid criticisms of it, including a recent legal challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Cogent arguments have been made elsewhere, too, that mandatory helmet laws only end up discouraging bicycle use in general and, from a public health point of view, do more harm than good.

The point is this: If Alberta is serious about bicycle safety, the provincial government ought to reconsider the age-dependent helmet requirement and revise the legislation to send a more consistent message.