B
My wife and I have just returned to Australia after almost a year of
travelling around the world. We had our bicycles with us and used
them
to cycle in three continents, concluding our trip with over 3000 km
of
cycling around Southern Africa (Zimbabawe, Mozambique & South
Africa).
Nowhere did we experience any problems; to the contrary - travelling
on
bikes seems to arouse people's curiosity and we had many friendly
chats
with the locals.
We arrived back in Australia and thought we would stop over in WA for
a
month or so, to catch up with friends in Perth and cycle down to
Albany
& Esperance and back, before continuing on home to the East Coast.
It only took one little, slow ride on the beach bike path from
Duncraig
to Cottesloe for us to be pulled over by two gun-carrying police on
mountainbikes. Reason? Australia's favourite: No helmets!
Upon learning we were not WA residents, the police decided not to
issue
us with traffic infringement notices - probably too much hard work,
having to chase payment from Qeensland! Instead, we were ordered to
walk
back - that is, 25 kilometers! Naturally, we refused to do this, and
were subsequently formally placed under arrest for disobeying police.
One of the cops attempted to call a paddy wagon on his two-way radio,
so, he explained, we could be taken to the station, fingerprinted and
locked up in the watchhouse for the time being. He was, however,
usuccessful in getting through (comforting thought for victims of any
possible real emergency), so they let our tires down and let us go,
wishing us a "nice walk back to Duncraig" and warning us not to
attempt
to pump the tyres up and continue riding, or we really would be taken
into custody.
What a homecoming! I must say it's great to be back in Australia and
only through travelling overseas one can fully appreciate the quality
of
life we Australians generally take for granted. However, this damned
helmet law is one major blot on that lifestyle. Nowhere else have we
been hassled for peacefully riding along a road, minding our own
business. No other country we visited penalizes its citizens for
exercising their bodies and using an environmentally friendly mode of
transport at the same time - not even some of the semi-dictotorial
regimes!
Having had a read through aus.bicycle, I notice the "great debate" is
still raging - and the authorities are still taking no notice of what
failure this law, this infringement of civil liberties, has been. The
helmet zealots are still bleating their naive message of "if it saves
one child's life, blah, blah, blah..."
In some ways, it is disappointing to see how easily some people are
brainwashed into believing whatever the authorities want them to
believe...
Alas, I don't think we'll be doing that Albany bike trip after all.
Who
wants to be constantly hassled? Hiring a car, maybe? Now, there's an
idea I'm sure would fix the helmet problem - as it has already fixed
it,
once and for all, for many ex-cycling commuters. Shame it's nowhere
near
as much fun...
travelling around the world. We had our bicycles with us and used
them
to cycle in three continents, concluding our trip with over 3000 km
of
cycling around Southern Africa (Zimbabawe, Mozambique & South
Africa).
Nowhere did we experience any problems; to the contrary - travelling
on
bikes seems to arouse people's curiosity and we had many friendly
chats
with the locals.
We arrived back in Australia and thought we would stop over in WA for
a
month or so, to catch up with friends in Perth and cycle down to
Albany
& Esperance and back, before continuing on home to the East Coast.
It only took one little, slow ride on the beach bike path from
Duncraig
to Cottesloe for us to be pulled over by two gun-carrying police on
mountainbikes. Reason? Australia's favourite: No helmets!
Upon learning we were not WA residents, the police decided not to
issue
us with traffic infringement notices - probably too much hard work,
having to chase payment from Qeensland! Instead, we were ordered to
walk
back - that is, 25 kilometers! Naturally, we refused to do this, and
were subsequently formally placed under arrest for disobeying police.
One of the cops attempted to call a paddy wagon on his two-way radio,
so, he explained, we could be taken to the station, fingerprinted and
locked up in the watchhouse for the time being. He was, however,
usuccessful in getting through (comforting thought for victims of any
possible real emergency), so they let our tires down and let us go,
wishing us a "nice walk back to Duncraig" and warning us not to
attempt
to pump the tyres up and continue riding, or we really would be taken
into custody.
What a homecoming! I must say it's great to be back in Australia and
only through travelling overseas one can fully appreciate the quality
of
life we Australians generally take for granted. However, this damned
helmet law is one major blot on that lifestyle. Nowhere else have we
been hassled for peacefully riding along a road, minding our own
business. No other country we visited penalizes its citizens for
exercising their bodies and using an environmentally friendly mode of
transport at the same time - not even some of the semi-dictotorial
regimes!
Having had a read through aus.bicycle, I notice the "great debate" is
still raging - and the authorities are still taking no notice of what
failure this law, this infringement of civil liberties, has been. The
helmet zealots are still bleating their naive message of "if it saves
one child's life, blah, blah, blah..."
In some ways, it is disappointing to see how easily some people are
brainwashed into believing whatever the authorities want them to
believe...
Alas, I don't think we'll be doing that Albany bike trip after all.
Who
wants to be constantly hassled? Hiring a car, maybe? Now, there's an
idea I'm sure would fix the helmet problem - as it has already fixed
it,
once and for all, for many ex-cycling commuters. Shame it's nowhere
near
as much fun...
