By Mary Ward
Looking at share-bike users across Sydney’s inner suburbs, you could forget it is a legal requirement to wear a helmet while cycling in NSW.
“A lot of the time, you pick up a share bike and the helmet isn’t there,” said Harri Bancroft, head of mobility policy at the Committee for Sydney.
“If you’ve got a meeting to get to or somewhere to be, you’re going to get that ride anyway.”
Harri Bancroft, mobility policy manager at the Committee for Sydney, says more should be done to encourage cycling. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
The number of share bikes within the City of Sydney Council increased from 328 in January 2022 to 4500 in May this year, the council told last week’s parliamentary inquiry into e-bikes and e-scooters.
Share-bike companies purport to offer helmets. A spokesperson for market leader Lime said its staff inspected bikes every 72 hours to replace missing helmets.
However, between these inspections, share-bike helmets often go missing or become too dirty to use.
In its own submission to the inquiry, the Committee for Sydney said policymakers should reconsider helmet rules to encourage more people to cycle.
“More people are deterred from cycling because they are afraid of cars, it is not the act of needing to wear a helmet.”
Professor John Crozier, trauma surgeon
It recommended making helmets compulsory for adults on roads with a speed limit of 40 km/h or greater, and optional on bike paths, shared paths and lower-speed roads.
“That is what we see in countries with higher rates of cycling,” Bancroft said. “And it should come in tandem with safe cycling infrastructure and slower streets.”
Revenue NSW data suggests the state’s helmet laws are being less strictly enforced than they were five years ago.
NSW Police issued 3333 fines for incorrectly wearing a helmet in 2023-24, compared with 6118 fines five years earlier, despite the proliferation of helmet-less share bikes.
NSW Police did not respond directly to questions about the decline, noting it “deploys various proactive strategies as part of an ongoing commitment to reducing road trauma”.
While it is an offence to ride without a helmet in every Australian jurisdiction bar the Northern Territory, which has an exemption for bike paths, helmets are not compulsory in Britain, where cycling organisations oppose such laws due to their negative impact on cycling uptake, viewing Australia as a cautionary tale.
The Committee for Sydney also argues that cycling has a net health benefit that outweighs the risks of not wearing a helmet. But trauma surgeon Professor John Crozier warned that the “populist push” would undo decades of evidence-based benefit, citing a recent steep increase in cyclist deaths in Amsterdam, where helmets are not mandatory.
“More people are deterred from cycling because they are afraid of cars; it is not the act of needing to wear a helmet,” he said.
Bicycle NSW chief executive Peter McLean said he supported compulsory helmet laws, even though they were “clearly a barrier to entry”.
“Other places have far better cycling infrastructure and a different road-safety culture that makes for a safer environment,” he said.
The state government this week announced plans to legalise e-scooters on bike paths and shared zones. Riders must be 16 or older and wear helmets.
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