Regina to draft bike helmet bylaw, consider buffer zones on roads

A draft bylaw around mandatory bike helmets and a possible buffer zone between vehicles and bikes will go before Regina city council at the end of the month.

After reviewing a report on bike safety, the Community and Public Security Committee voted Wednesday to direct city administrators to draft a new bike safety bylaw for review by council on March 25.

Ward 2 Coun. Bob Hawkins sits on the committee and voted to move forward with drafting a bike helmet bylaw without any further delays. He told the committee the evidence in favour of bike helmets is clear and he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if someone died in a crash while the city discussed and researched the matter more.

Hawkins described public arguments about drivers being more reckless around cyclists who wear helmets as “nonsense.” He said the extra cost of a helmet is also not a good argument against a bylaw.

“The concern about helmets discouraging people from riding bikes — I don’t want to encourage people to ride bikes in an unsafe way. I want to encourage people to ride bikes safely and that means wearing a helmet. There’s just no credible argument against wearing a helmet,” Hawkins said.

While the enforcement of the helmet bylaw would apply to all ages and introduce a fine of $29, Hawkins considers the fine to be a last resort.

“The front line of enforcement will be using this bylaw to educate anyone on a bicycle that they should have a helmet on,” Hawkins said.

He said the same will be true for parents telling their kids to wear helmets, not only to keep them safe but also because it’s the law.

A report on bike safety in Regina examined the option of only educating the public but said a communication campaign would cost between $15,000 and $20,000 with or without a law behind it.

The report also noted that Alberta and Manitoba require riders younger than 18 years of age to wear a bike helmet. Helmets are mandatory for everyone in British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

“Saskatchewan is one of four provinces/territories in Canada that does not have provincial legislation for wearing bicycle helmets,” the report states.

Proposed buffer zones between bikes and vehicles

Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens rode his bike to the committee meeting at city hall, just as he does almost every day.

He admitted he is less concerned about passing a helmet bylaw and wants to see the city go a step further with a bylaw to require a buffer zone between bikes and vehicles.

Regina city councillor Andrew Stevens rides his bike outside Regina City Hall on March 4, 2020. (Adriana Christianson/980 CJME)

“I get frustrated when I have to dodge opening doors and when cars come within a hair’s breadth of actually pushing me into other vehicles,” Stevens said.

The report recommended a distance of at least one metre between vehicles and bicycles sharing the road at speeds of 50 kilometres per hour or less and 1.5 metres at speeds greater than 50 km/h.

While other cities have found similar laws around buffer zones nearly impossible to enforce, Stevens argues having a law would serve to educate drivers about sharing the road.

“Do I want a hard line on enforcement on this? No, but at least cyclists know that they have some security and recognition under the law,” Stevens said.

Stevens said he also cringes when he sees other cyclists disobey traffic laws, but said the consequences for them are far more serious.

“Ultimately — and this is the reality — our punishment is fatality and our punishment is serious injury,” Stevens said. “So yes, this is a two-way street. We share the road but ‘sharing’ is the key word there.

“Ultimately when something goes wrong, it’s not a minimal consequence for cyclists. It’s catastrophic.”

Stevens said education on road safety and sharing the road doesn’t mean a lot when there isn’t a bylaw to back it up.

“We all need to abide by the rules of the road,” he said. “This is about creating rules that are balancing that interest.”

Stevens said the committee voted to pursue both changes but noted there is more of a question mark for council to decide on a specific timeline and strategy around dealing with buffer zones.