Should helmets be mandatory for Quebec cyclists?

As the warmer weather arrives, plenty of people are taking their bike out for a ride. While wearing a helmet while riding is recommended, it’s not a law — though some think it should be.

Dominic Roussel knows from experience how helpful a helmet is. He was recently “doored” when a driver opened their car just as he was cycling by.

“I smashed through the window, through the frame and rolled and got up and my adrenaline was surging and roaring!” says Roussel.

Jean-Francois Rheault, president of Vélo Québec, a cycling advocacy group, says he always wears a helmet and hopes other cyclists choose to do the same.

“At Vélo Québec we recommend cyclists to use helmets. We don’t recommend it to be part of the law,” he says.

If helmet use becomes mandatory, studies have shown that people are cycling less, says Rheault. He adds he fears that riders worried about being fined for not wearing a helmet will just park their bike.

Liane Fransblow, a trauma coordinator at The Montreal Children’s Hospital, disagrees and says wearing a helmet should be a law.

“A 15-year-old, a 25-year-old, anybody can have a brain injury and it would affect them for the rest of their lives,” she says.

“It is a law in other provinces. Quebec has decided not to make it a law. ... The injuries, the brain injuries that they may have had could have been prevented with the helmet.”

Fransblow and Rheault both say they hope families will make the safe decision when cycling — no matter the law.

“It’s also not the best use of police resources to give tickets to people that are not wearing helmets,” says Rheault.

But Roussel says safety should come first.

“I have three friends that wouldn’t be here today if they didn’t have their helmets,” he says.