Page 569 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 19 May 1992
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this matter. This is not to politicise a matter on which we are in agreement with the Government; but, Madam Speaker, on such an issue the Government must consult the community, particularly those affected, that is, the cyclists.
We are informed that the Government has not consulted the Cyclists Rights Action Group, even after repeated requests from that organisation. Consultation is about talking to all interested parties, not just those who are in agreement with a proposed piece of legislation. We have spoken to both the proponents and the opponents. We have heard the views of the Cyclists Rights Action Group and we appreciate the thoroughness in the presentation of their viewpoint. However, the views that have been put to us by other sectors of the community are far more compelling.
Dr Ray Newcombe, chairman of the ACT Trauma Committee of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons and secretary of the Neuro Surgical Society of Australasia, has advised us that there is an unacceptable high level of injury from bicycle accidents. Dr Newcombe indicated that both of these organisations support the legislation for compulsory wearing of helmets. He has said that the incidence and severity of these accidents are clearly reduced by wearing helmets.
Dr Newcombe advises that every weekend people who have come off bikes are admitted to the Woden Valley Hospital. Last Saturday week a blood clot was removed from a 16-year-old girl involved in a bicycle accident. She was not wearing a helmet. Dr Newcombe further advises that another patient, a university student, was admitted to the Woden Valley Hospital after coming off a bicycle, but she was wearing a helmet and sustained only minor injuries. After some minor attention she was able to leave the hospital shortly after arriving there.
The ACT branch of the AMA, in a press release on 21 April, called for the compulsory wearing of helmets for youngsters. It stated that the AMA is concerned that the ACT is lagging behind the other States in making helmets mandatory for bike riders. The AMA refers to the data collected by the ACT injury surveillance and protection program which shows that head injuries account for nearly 40 per cent of admissions to hospital of injured bike riders not wearing helmets, but for only 10 per cent of admissions of bike riders wearing helmets. Clearly, this data reveals that many young people are injured in bike accidents and that the wearing of helmets dramatically reduces the risk of head injury.
The Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia has written to me expressing its full support for the introduction of this legislation. This organisation claims that each year, on a national basis, around 90 cyclists are killed on the roads, with approximately another 20 cyclists hospitalised for each fatality. The Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia has advised us as follows:
Early research in Victoria, pre and post legislation, displays a trend for a lower proportion of head injuries presenting at accident and emergency departments of hospitals participating in the Victorian injury surveillance system.
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